GREGORY OF NAZIANZUM. 



'O 0EOAOTOI 
'THE DIVINE.' 



A CONTRIBUTION TO THE ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY 
OF THE rOUBTH CENTURY. 

BY 

DR. CARL ULLMANN, 

PROFESSOR EXTRAORDINARY OF THEOLOGY AT HEIDELBERG. 

TRANSLATED BY 

G. V. COX, MA. 

ESQUIRE-BEDEL IN THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD. 



Hpa%ig bTTL^aaiQ Seiopiag, 

Greg. Naz. 

LONDON :<; 
JOHN W. PARKER, WEST STRAND. 

MDCCCLL 






LONDON* : 

SAVILL AND KDWABJDS, PKINTERS, 

CHANDOS STREET. 



NOTICE BY THE TRANSLATOR. 



rpHE biography of Gregory Nazianzen here presented is 
-■- only a half of Dr. Ullrnann's volume. It forms, how- 
ever, a perfect whole in itself; and as its interest is quite 
of a different kind, and more attractive to the general 
reader, the dogmatic part (or the statement and exami- 
nation of Gregory's theological opinions), though nearly 
nished by the Translator, is for the present withheld. 

As the Translator is no theologian, he presumes not 
) offer any Preface of his own. The fly-leaf will, he 
liinks, be better filled with the following stanzas, in 
rhich Bishop Ken, that saint of the Church of England, 
lraws a parallel between himself and the Bishop of 
Constantinople, Gregory of Nazianzum. 

Bless'd Gregory, whose patriarchal height 
Shed on the Eastern sphere celestial light, 
To jS"azianzum flew, dethron'd by rage, 
And spent in songs divine his drooping age. 
I, if the least may with the greatest dare 
In grief, not gifts or graces, to compare, 
Eorc'd from my flock by uncanonic heat, 
In singing hymns thus solace my retreat. 
a 2 



IV NOTICE BY THE TRANSLATOR. 

Bless'd Gregory, with, pain and sickness griev'd, 
His spirit oft with songs devout reliev'd ; 
And while on hymns his meditation dwelt, 
Devotion sweeten'd ev'ry pang he felt. 
Pain haunting me, I court the sacred muse, 
Yerse is the only laudanum I use. 
Eas'd of my sacred load, I live content ; 
In hymn, not in dispute, my passion vent. 

Bless'd Gregory, to sacred verse consigned 
The last efforts of his immortal mind, 
Those poems loftiest prospects have disclos'd, 
On brink of bright eternity compos 'd. 
I the small dol'rous remnant of my days 
Devote to hymn my great Redeemer's praise. 
And nearer as I draw t'ward heavenly rest, 
The more I love th' employment of the blest. 



DR. ULLMAXX'S PREFACE. 



THE words of Gregory, ( Practice is the way to know- 
ledge/ have been taken for my motto, not only 
because I am convinced with Gregory, and tlie author 
of the excellent letter to Diognetus, 1 'that there is no 
true life without knowledge, and no sure knowledge 
without true life;' but also because they show at once 
the principal point of view from which I may be sup- 
posed to have contemplated the following biography. 
Eeligion and theology rest entirely on the union and 
mutual co-operation of correct knowledge and a life of 
truth. It is only the clearly-perceived truth which can 
operate powerfully upon our mind and will; and it is 
only in proportion as we apply our knowledge to our 
lives, and allow the truths of salvation to work in 
earnest to our real sanctification, that a firm, lively, 
deep-rooted knowledge of those truths can be attained, 
a knowledge that is ever developing itself in greater 
purity and completeness. This holds good of every kind 
of knowledge whose subject is not external nature, but, 
either wholly or in part, our own internal being. Xay, 
it is. one and the same way that leads to a solid acquaint- 



1 The Epistola ad Diognetum, usually attributed to Justin, but 
hardly belonging to him. was composed by a truly christian man 
of the first centuries ; towards the end it is written : — ov?s. yap 
£w>) dvev yvwatiijg, ovde yvuxjig d(T<paXi)g civzu %b>)jg aXrjSovg. 



VI DS. ULL3i£A>3"S PREFACE. 

ance with natural object?, and to a knowledge -f things 
invisible — the way of experience. A?, in too :ase. 

a confident, elevated, intellectual notion of the su iect 
is only possible on the condition of a sure perception :y 
means of the senses, so also in the latter. fv;/f -only 
he brought home to the mind in .■:■ . - i: . con- 

sciousness, which lives in us. and which has become to 
us an inward fact and a matter of experience. And 
thus the whole of Christianity is. : le. to 

us a mere history, differing in no essential features from 
any other history, unless it passes into our soul and life, 
and is converted, as it were, into the / . : -d of 

our nature. 

Therefore also in theology, the science of divine 
things, those have always been the greatest masters. 
and have produced the happiest results, whose clear 
knowledge rested upon a strong living conviction, and 
of whom that is true which was said by Eusebius of 
Origen : ''As his word, so also was his life: and as his 
life, so was his word.' In this respect the best of 
the old Fathers (amidst many imperfections, which we 
will not deny) were pre-eminently great theologians. 
Their knowledge was practical; it set out from life, and 
it was directed back to life. They took their stand. 
with all their thoughts, and actions, and efforts, on 
Christianity; on a Christianity, certainly, not every- 
where clearly and accurately conceived, On this 
account their christian knowledge is by no means to be 
a standard for ours. As little were they free from mani- 
fold human infirmities and deficiencies: and therefore. 
also, we are far from considering them as patterns of a 
perfectly holy life. They may. however, be animating 
exemplars to us in this respect. — that they devoted 



DR. ULLMANXS PREFACE. Yll 

themselves, with all the powers of their mind, and with 
all the energy of their will, to that which they acknow- 
ledged as the highest and the holiest. They dedicated 
their lives to Christianity, they sacrificed their enjoy- 
ments to it, they renounced for it, not only lawful con- 
veniences, but often also the simplest necessaries. If, 
then, we are bound to esteem every one who is ready to 
sacrifice the pleasures, the enjoyments, and the good 
things of life to his sincere convictions, and if, in this 
relation, we cheerfully honour every noble patriot, every 
hero of ancient and modern times, — shall we exclude 
from this regard those men who sacrificed so much for 
the same invisible goods, which we also must consider 
most valuable? Shall we exclude them, only because 
they conceived those goods were to be partaken of in a 
different form and in another manner than we do? It 
is not difficult to understand, that many of the privations 
and sacrifices which those men imposed upon themselves 
were not required by the Gospel : it costs no trouble to 
point out the incorrectness of the theoretic principles on 
which their conduct in this respect was regulated; and 
but little skill is necessary to make them appear ridicu- 
lous and foolish. But it is assuredly no small thing, 
with the light of a clearer knowledge, to walk in the 
same devoted spirit which animated them. 

Many blemishes, as well in theory as in practice, may 
lie clear and open in an Origen, a Chrysostom, a Theodo- 
ret, an Augustine, (even after his conversion,) nor will 
they be either concealed or glossed over by an honest 
historian. But as little inclined will he be, as an unpre- 
judiced judge, to overlook, or to throw into the shade, 
that which is truly noble and great in their characters. 
To explore such qualities, and make them known, is 



Vlll DR. ULLMANN S PREFACE. 

always more agreeable and more profitable. 1 He will 
rather extend the same justice to these distinguished 
men which he justly does not deny to a Julian. Still it 
will appear that these Fathers of the Church were no 
more infallible in their knowledge and lives than is the 
life and knowledge of the most distinguished theologian, 
philosopher, and historian of our own day ; yet, notwith- 
standing this, that they were men who, in relation to 
their time, deserve our respect and regard quite as much 
as any honest, zealous, strong-minded, pious individual 
of any other century. 

In this spirit of candour and impartiality, I have 
endeavoured to exhibit the life and the theological 
opinions of one of the most remarkable and influential 
Fathers of the fourth century, Gregory Nazianzen. It 
has been my main object in this work to portray him 
as he was, to give a living and true copy of his charac- 
ter, and to compose his , intellectual portrait from the 
noble and beautiful, as well as the less attractive, fea- 
tures of his nature. The essential requisites for such a 
representation are truth and life. That I have honestly 
striven to give truth to the portrait, I dare to attest of 
myself. I have desired to conceal nothing, and to give 
an unfair prominence to nothing, neither to embellish 
nor to undervalue, to subserve no preconceived philo- 
sophic or dogmatic system, 2 to promote no party object. 

1 So also, Joh. Aug. Ernesti, in reference to Origen and other 
Fathers, points out, as the more generous practice : ' in viris 
egregiis bona potius quaerere et laudare, quam mala indagare et 
reprehendere.' 

2 For this very reason I have been very sparing of criticism in 
the exhibition of Gregory's opinions on doctrinal points. I have 
thought it my duty to give his convictions, not my own ; though 
I have not scrupled to allow my own views to appear on many 
passages, yet without mixing them up with the historical account. 



DR. ULLMANNS PREFACE. IX 

I have wished, not to make up a history, but, first of all, 
to search out, singly and alone, pure historical truth, 
and to present it faithfully as I found it. Yet in doing 
this it is plain of itself, that the theologian, even if, as 
an historian, he does not see things through the glasses 
of a predetermined system, views nevertheless the 
historical data from a theological standing-point, and 
apprehends them with a religious sense. But whether 
or not there be life in my representation, is a point on 
which I must wait for a just decision from others ; from 
those, that is, who take into the consideration, that this 
is, in part, a matter of natural talent, which no man can 
give to himself, and the want of which the best inten- 
tions cannot compensate ; and in part a matter of 
tact and historical art, which can be attained only by 
long- continued practice. It has been my chief aim to 
write a readable, useful book, complete, as far as pos- 
sible, in information respecting the individual who is the 
subject of it ; and to that extent, I believe, my labour 
will also be useful to the historical inquirer, and accept- 
able to any one who, with greater master-skill, may work 
up the materials here supplied. In pursuing the object 
here expressed I could not avoid the discussion of many 
other less interesting points, because I wished to give 
the biography of Gregory in a certain degree of com- 
pleteness. There remained to me the twofold choice, 
either to give prominence only to the more weighty and 
generally important points, while I sacrificed the idea of 
completeness, or, while I aimed at this to a certain 
extent, to discuss also some detached and less attractive 
subjects. In the first case, I might probably have j)ro- 
duced a more agreeable book, but then I should have 
been obliged also to satisfy the requirements of the 



X DR. ULLMAXN'S PREFACE. 

historical art in relation to the strictness of my choice. 
And since I did not wish to undertake this, I decided 
the more willingly on the second alternative, since I 
could thus, by a certain degree of completeness, make 
my work more useful to those readers who were 
engaged professionally in the study of the Fathers. 

That my book is derived from the original sources/ 
every competent judge will perceive ; but that I have 
not therefore overlooked the labours of historical com- 
pilers and inquirers is self-evident. And if I do not 
everywhere quote them, when I have had an eye to 
them, whether in the act of agreeing with or differing 
from them, it is because I did not wish to accumulate 
citations. I have principally made use of (after having 
first, with unbiassed mind, evolved the matter from the 
originals) Tillemont, 2 Le Gere, 3 Schrockh, 4 Baronius, 5 



1 I must here remark that I have quoted the writings of 
Gregory from the beautiful, but, alas ! unfinished Benedictine 
edition, as far as it extends. It contains, however, only the 
Orations. The Latin title is : S. Patris nostri Gregorii Tlieologi 

Opera omnia, quae extant. opera et studio Jlonachorum or dials 

S. Benedicti e congregatione S. Mauri. Tom. i. Paris, sumpt. 
viduse Desaint, 1778. The chief editor is Clemencet. TTould 
that he might, at some time and place, find a successor to com- 
plete that beautiful work ! That which is not contained in that 
edition of Gregory's works has been generally quoted (and usually 
with express reference) from the following editions : S. Gregorii 
Naz. Theologi Opera. Jac. Billius Prwwem cum JISS. regiis cow- 
tidit. emendavit. etc. Aucta est hcec editio aliquarnmultis ejusdern 
Gregorii Epistolis, nunquam antea editis ex inferp/r. F. Morefii Lips, 
sumpt. "Weidmanni, 1690. See, concerning the literary merits of 
this and other editions, Fabric. Biolioth. Greece, vol. viii. p. 398, 
seqq. ed Harl. 

8 Memovres pour servir a VHist. Eccles. torn. ix. pp. 305 — 560, 
692—731. 

3 Bibliotheque Iniverselle. torn, xviii. p. 1, seqq. 

4 CJcristliche Kirchengeschichte. Th. 13.. S. 275 — ±66. 

5 Acta Sanctorum. Madi, torn. ii. pp. 373 — 4S2. 



DE. ULUttANNS PREFACE. XI 

Cleniencet, 1 in their biographical notices of Gregory 
Xazianzen. Of these, Tillemont, without doubt, pre- 
sents the most complete materials \ he is indeed over 
rich in that respect, and the total impression he should 
make disappears in the mass of isolated particulars; 
while his, otherwise, pure and sincere piety does not 
allow him always to exercise the requisite criticism. 
Le Gere is certainly more critical and more candid \ 
but he is less exact and truthful in some particulars, 
less diligent in the task of discovering the good qualities 
concealed under the disguising form of the age, and of 
elevating them therefrom. If Tillemont is too confiding 
and easy of belief, Le Clerc is distrustful and suspicious. 
Schrockh, as in his other writings, so also here, is discreet, 
impartial and solid ; but still (as could not well be 
otherwise, considering the extent of his work) he gives 
too little of the peculiar features, and has not even 
worked up with sufficient pains the materials already 
accumulated by Tillemont. Xot so learned, and still 
less free from prejudice than that of Tillemont, is the 
biography which we find in Baronius's Acta Sanctorum; 
it gives evidence, however, of great familiarity with the 
writings of Gregory. This is true, also, in a still higher 
degree, of the biographical notices which are prefixed to 
the Benedictine edition of Gregory's Works \ they con- 
tain some very useful inquiries, but they do not form a 
whole. There is a very copious biography of Gregory 
and Basil by Hermant, 2 which I have not been able to 
make use of. 



1 For the edition of his works, e Congreg. S. Mauri, above- 
mentioned. It is not my intention here to specify all the bio- 
graphies of Gregory. Cn this subject, see Fabric. Biblioth.Gr. 
vol. viii. pp. 333—387, and Schrockh's K. Gesch., Th. 13, p. 461. 

* La Vie tfe S. Basile le Grand et cellede S. Greg aire de Nazi- 
anze, par Godfr. Hermant; a Paris, 1679, — in two stout quartos. 



XU DR. ULLMAXX3 PREFACE. 

I have not made these critical remarks upon my pre- 
decessors, with the conviction of having avoided their 
faults and combined their respective excellences in my 
own production. It is always easier to discover failings 
than it is to improve upon them ; and I am fully con- 
scious of the many deficiencies of my book. I hope, 
nevertheless, to gain a friendly reception from right- 
minded and impartial persons ; but I am quite as 
desirous of a straightforward, and (where necessary) a 
just and fair censure, and shall know how to respect 
the same. 

To the learned men who have assisted me with books 
and friendly counsel (and whom I cannot here enume- 
rate) I return my most hearty thanks. 

As a conclusion to this, already perhaps too long, 
preface, I must make the following remark : the dog- 
matic system, for which Gregory called forth all his 
powers, appears to a great portion of our contemporaries 
of less weight, and to some even objectionable.* But 
even they who in theory differ from Gregory, must 
acknowledge the force, the courage, and devoted activity, 
with which he supported his convictions ; and those 
who possess no strong conviction for which they would 
make any sacrifice, may yet have the generosity to 
praise the man who had. Still, to all, however they may 
be dogmatically inclined, Gregory must be an object of 
respectful veneration, as an ardent friend of practical 
Christianity ; since, while he contended for a dogmatic 
system which may not readily be reduced to practice, 
it was yet a main object with him, to draw off his 
hearers from mere theorizing and unseasonable disputes 
on religious questions, and direct them always to action 



This remark, of course, applies to Germany. — Translator, 



DK. T7LL3IAXXS PEEFACE. Xlll 

and life, as the only true path to happiness, and the in- 
dispensable preliminaries to a saving knowledge. 

In this respect, the contemplation of such men as Gre- 
gory of jSazianzum, of Chrysostom, and others of like 
minds, is certainly profitable for our time also, because they 
were animated by a lively spirit of practical Christianity. 
That same active Christianity, which was the preserving 
and purifying salt amidst the dogmatic struggle and 
party rage of that era, is also a connecting and saving 
element for our dogmatizing, and, alas ! divided Church. 
This should be the standard round which all who are 
earnest in their religion should rally, in spite of many 
differences of opinion, for this is, and will continue to 
the last, the essential point in the scheme of christian 
salvation, viz. the sanctification of our wills and affec- 
tions. Not that I would be thought to consider morality 
the only weighty matter in Christianity ; since the 
system of morals, which Christianity presents, is inse- 
parably bound up with a firm foundation of religious 
conviction, and true christian sanctification is not to be 
imagined without the operating influence of the peculiar 
saving truths of Christ's religion. Still, however, it is 
the practical side of Christianity which offers the most 
points of union for the distracted theological parties of 
our time. It were better surely to give prominence to 
this point of agreement, instead of sharpening the spirit 
of antagonism by ever-repeated expressions of difference. 
That, however, I may not be misunderstood, let me con- 
clude with the following confession and hearty wish : — 
May friends never be wanting (and assuredly they never 
will — they never can) to the support of that theology 
which aims at a true and lively conception of pure, 
biblical Christianity; and this, as well in its historical 



XIV DR. ULLMANX S PREFACE. 

reality as in its exalted spirituality ; as well in its depth, 
as in its clearness, simplicity and practical influence ! 
May God prosper that theology, which considers Chris- 
tianity, and religion generally, not in a one-sided view, 
as a matter of mere intellect and speculation, or even of 
mere feeling, but as the concern of the whole inner 
man, in the harmonious co-operation of his understand- 
ing, will, and feelings ! A theology, which seeks to com- 
bine philosophical information with historical erudition, 
reverence for a holy, unfeigned love of Christianity and 
its Founder with an unsophisticated regard for free, 
scientific inquiry ! To acquire this theology, this free 
christian science, and to labour for it, according to my 
powers, in that sphere which Providence assigns to me, 
I look upon as the highest duty and the greatest happi- 
ness of my life. 

C. ULLMANK 



Heidelbekg, 

August 28, 1825. 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

Introduction 1 

SECTION THE FIRST. 

THE HISTORY OF HIS YOUTH. 
CHAP. 

I. His Fatherland, his Family, his Birth and early Youth 13 
II. His residence as a Student at Athens 28 

SECTION THE SECOND. 

HIS MODE OF LIFE IN CAPFADOCIA, FROM HIS THIRTIETH 
TO HIS FORTY-NINTH YEAR. 

I. Difference between his tone of mind and that of his 

brother Csssarius 44 

II. His own Sketch of his Plan of Life 48 

III. Gregory in solitary Life 54 

IV. His public labours for the Establishment of Peace . 61 
V. He is made a Presbyter, and soon after withdraws 

from Nazianzum 66 

VI. His relations to Julian 74 

Sub-division, (a.) State of Christianity, in relation to 

Heathenism, under Julian ... 74 
(£,) Julian's conduct towards Chris- 
tianity and its Professors . . . 81 

(c.) Gregory's Writings against Julian 97 

(d.) The position of Gregory and his 

Family, in relation to Julian . .104 

VII. Gregory again employed as Peace-maker 109 

VIII. Basil elected Bishop of Csesarea. Conduct of the 

Elder and Younger Gregory on that occasion . .114 
IX. Gregory made Bishop of Sasima against his will ; 

afterwards Coadjutor to his Father at Nazianzum . 122 
X. Misfortunes in the Family of Gregory 131 

XI. The public Life and Labours of Gregory, as Coadjutor 

to his Father at Nazianzum 137 

XII. The Death of the Elder Gregory and his wife, Nonna; 

the Younger Gregory retires to Seleucia . . . .146 



XVI CONTENTS. 



SECTION THE THIRD 

GREGORY AT CONSTANTINOPLE. — Ml. 49 to 51. 
CHAP. PAGE 

I. State of the Church at Constantinople 155 

II. Gregory collects a Congregation there . . . , . 166 

III. He is persecuted there by three opposite parties . .174 

IV. His Preaching and Private Life there 1S3 

V. His Fame. Hieronynius (Jerome) becomes his Pupil. 

The Philosopher Maximus 195 

VI. Gregory retires into the Country near Constantinople . 208 
VII. Theodosius arrives at Constantinople; Triumph of the 
Nicene Faith. Gregory refuses the Bishopric of 

Constantinople 219 

Till. He persists in that Refusal. His Frank Behaviour to 

all Classes 229 

IX. The Second CEcumenic Council at Constantinople, a.d. 

381. Gregory regularly chosen Bishop of Constan- 
tinople 237 

X. He resigns his See, and leaves his Congregation . .246 



SECTION THE FOURTH. 

FROM HIS FIFTY-FIRST TO HIS SIXTIETH TEAR, A.D. 390, 
THE DATE OF HIS DEATH. 

I. Gregory enjoys Retirement and Release from Synods . 263 

II. He still takes an active Concern in Church Matters and 

in the Welfare of his Friends 273 

III. Gregory's Epistles and Poems 286 

IV. Gregory's Death; his Character 293 

APPENDIX I. 

Concerning the Tear and Place of Gregory's Birth . . . .299 

APPENDIX II. 

Concerning the Sect of the Hypsistarians 308 



LIFE 



GREGORY OF NAZIANZUM. 



INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 

CHRISTIANITY, the bright central-point in the 
world's history, with which the old time closes and 
the new begins, appeared in the course of human de- 
velopment when its presence, spiritually and morally, 
was most urgently required. At the period to which 
we are about to transfer ourselves in the following 
reflections, it had operated with quiet but immense 
influence for nearly three centuries. The human race, 
having outgrown the leading- strings of a ceremonial, 
legal religion, and risen above the religion of Nature, 
and the worship of the beautiful, had acquired a new 
life in this religion of spirituality and morality. And 
although Judaism still dragged on its weary existence, 
and heathenism still stood like a huge colossus com- 
pacted into the body of the Roman empire, yet both 
were already as good as annihilated, by that simple word 
(which yet, in its effects, comprehended the whole human 
race), spoken by Jesus to the woman of Samaria at the 
well of Jacob : f God is a Spirit, and they who worship 
Him, must worship Him in spirit and in truth. 5 

As a religion of faith, Christianity gave courage and 
joyfumess in a new and better life to Man, weighed 

B 



2 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 

down by his sins, and despairing of recovery; as a re- 
ligion of love, it bound him by the purest ties, to God, 
as his father, and to all men, as members of a large 
family; as a religion of hope, it opened to him the gates 
of everlasting life, and introduced him to a kingdom of 
God, which comprehends both worlds. 

Difference of rank could no longer make a difference 
in the participation of religious blessings. The Deity 
had come forth from the darkness of the temple, from 
priestly and philosophic mysteries, into the light of 
universal knowledge. The profoundest truths were pro- 
claimed from the house-tops in the plainest garb, and 
the meanest slave could partake as fully, and in the self- 
same manner, in all the blessings of the purer faith, as 
the prince upon the throne. Nor was one nation to be 
favoured more than another, because God could now be 
worshipped in spirit and in truth, wherever a human 
mind could think, or a human heart beat; and because 
the simple faith of the Christian, a faith working in love, 
can be exercised, as well in the north as in the south, 
and is dependent on no national peculiarity of custom 
or constitution. In Christianity there is nothing national 
or confined; it is the religion of the nations, of mankind — 
adapted in its fundamental features to unite all nations, 
notwithstanding any external marks of separation, into 
one vast spiritual community. 

But, though suited to all nations, this faith was in- 
tended to be spread only by the free motion of the mind, 
and the influence of pure conviction, and if slowly. 
and after thousands of years, yet so much the more 
surely to overspread the world in the way thus worthy 
of its Divine Author. The faith which depends on the 
point of the sword, sinks with the sword, (so that 



INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 3 

Islamisin must fall to pieces whenever its professors 
shall cease to be warlike.) but the faith which is sown in 
the mind expands with the general development of the 
mind. As the leaven gradually, and without any external 
aid, pervades the whole mass; as the grain of mustard 
arrives at its full height by a slow process, and by virtue 
of an innate power; so it is in the nature of Christianity 
to pervade mankind, gradually purifying, strengthening, 
fructifying; and so, from the in-dwelling plastic mental 
impulse, without the action of external power (which 
checks, rather than promotes the inner life), it grows 
and ripens into that divine tree, whose fruits and peace- 
ful shade are for the enjoyment of the nations. Far 
from calling in the aid of external power, Christianity, 
from the first, rather entered into a contest therewith, 
proving by that very fact the entire efficacy of the faith 
which conquers the world. The calm, confiding heroism 
of the first Christians, equally removed from stoic indif- 
ference and effeminate pliability, confideotly opposed 
itself to the monstrous power of the Koinan empire, 
and it was amidst oppression and struggles, privation 
and self-denial, that all the virtues of the christian mind 
were developed. 

But with the commencement of the fourth century 
Christianity ascended the imperial throne, the struggling 
community of believers became a dominant Church, and 
— alas! — with that very change lost so much of its youthful 
beauty and innocence. Divine Providence, however, 
had ordered this external victory, and (as we cannot but 
believe) it had here also its special purposes in relation 
to the moral training of the whole human race. Yet, 
we must nevertheless regret that, through human in- 
firmity, this public triumph of Christianity became the 

b 2 



4 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 

cause of such manifold internal decay in the lives of its 
professors. Ease and repose succeeded to continual 
struggle, and the ardent zeal of many waxed cold. In- 
stead of oppression, the Christians enjoyed favour and 
influence, till, from being persecuted, they became per- 
secutors. Shame and want no longer accompanied the 
confession of Christ's name, but honour and emolument 
were often connected with it; and this soon tempted a 
great many persons to enter into the Church, whose 
hearts were as far removed as possible from the unselfish 
spirit of the Gospel. From this cause also the bond 
of union between fellow-Christians was relaxed, their 
brotherly love grew colder and less active, their zeal for 
all that concerned the christian community diminished. 
The professors of the Gospel, who had once distinguished 
themselves by the most perfect simplicity of life, and by 
a cheerful renunciatiomof all its enjoyments and many 
of its necelsaries, now became as eager in the pursuit of 
pleasure and as luxurious as the heathens, whom they 
had blamed on that account. 

' We/ says the author whose life I propose to write, 
of the Christians of his time, ( we repose in state upon 
high and splendid couches, covered with the most ex- 
quisite coverlids, which one scarcely dares touch, and 
we are annoyed if we do but hear the voice and weeping 
of a poor man; our chamber must be fragrant with 
flowers, and of the rarest sort. Our table must overflow 
with the finest-scented and most costly ointments, so that 
we become perfectly effeminate. Slaves must stand 
ready, gaily bedeckt and in fair array, with flowing, girl- 
like hair, with smooth shorn faces, and wantonly adorned; 
some of them trained, with equal grace and firmness, to 
bear the cup with the extreme points of their fingers, 



INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. O 

and others to fan the cool air with all adroitness above 
our heads. Our board must bend under the weight of 
viands, whilst all the kingdoms of Nature — earth, water, 
air, — furnish such liberal contributions, that the handi- 
works of the cook and the baker can scarcely find a 

place there The poor man is content with 

water, but we fill our goblets with wine to intoxication, 
yea, with a degree of excess beyond it; we disdain one 
sort of wine, another we pronounce excellent for its fine 
flavour; we engage in philosophical reflections upon a 
third; nay, we think ourselves ill-treated unless foreign 
wine, as at a kings banquet, be added to the wine of 
our country.' 

The worldly spirit, which pervaded more and more 
all classes of Christians, displayed itself especially in 
those who were placed at the head of the christian 
community, the clergy. They who before had been 
particularly exposed, as leaders of the christian party, 
to hatred and persecution, now also became special 
objects for the patronage and favour of the great, though 
at the same time they partially became instruments for 
carrying out those great ones' plans. They now ob- 
tained the freedom and privileges of the state, they 
acquired the means of enriching the Church and them- 
selves, they attained to political influence, they became 
men of consideration and weight at court; but with all 
this, and in the same proportion, they lost sight of the 
one essential thing, to be true and plain enunciators of 
the simple doctrine of salvation, patterns of good morals, 
advisers, helpers, fathers of the congregations committed 
to their care. 

Persecution and oppression had been, as for the 
Christians generally, so especially for the clergy, a fiery 



6 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 

ordeal, and a school of purification; worldly-minded 
men were scared away thereby, hirelings fell off in the 
time of need, and the majority that remained to the 
Church, were men who served it with devotion and pure 
affection. But it was now possible for an individual, in 
the direct path of ecclesiastical duties, (and even without 
any intellectual exertion, or solid, scientific acquire- 
ments) to secure the enjoyment of external prosperity; 
and thus, those very persons who, by their tone of 
thought, were least qualified to become pious teachers 
of the truth and labourers for the souls of men, were 
most attracted by the splendour of the bishoprics. Even 
amongst the better clergy, who were not led away by 
the prevailing selfishness, a false desire of pleasing and 
of shining had, by virtue of their new position, in- 
sinuated itself. It was now no longer a small connected 
community of brethren, among whom the pastor lived 
as a father, administering exhortation and correction, 
and, while he kept the great cause steadily before his 
eyes, so speaking as he felt convinced in his own heart ; 
but it was a vast, promiscuous assemblage, spoilt by the 
varied gratifications of the ear, before whom he was ex- 
pected to appear as an orator, who should agreeably 
entertain the less instructed and confirmed, and carry 
with him his hearer by the force and beauty of his dis- 
course. The clergy, for the most part brought up in 
the schools of rhetoric, were declaimers, the pulpit be- 
came a stage, and the same tokens of applause attended 
the actor in holy places as in the theatre. The 
congregations in large cities, such as Constantinople, 
Antioch, Alexandria, could in general be worked upon 
only by means of showy forms ; and even those men, who 
were most earnestly devoted to the cause, were obliged 



INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 7 

to employ many artifices, and to depart far from genuine 
christian simplicity, if they would not sacrifice what was 
of greater importance. The worship itself had also from 
the same cause become more rich and splendid. Since 
the spirit of religion had fallen off, men sought to make 
up for it by forms ; ceremonies addressed to the imagi- 
nation were to be substitutes for the fervour of christian 
feeling, and as there began to be a deficiency of religion 
in the transactions of common life, they made so much 
the greater display of it in the service of the Church. 

It is not, however, here implied, either that the three 
first centuries were to be praised unconditionally, or 
that nothing but corruption pervaded the Church every- 
where in the fourth. Already, in the time of the 
apostles, there was a Judas Iscariot. From the earliest 
period many unworthy members sat in the assemblies 
of the Christians, and many a germ of future corruption 
was planted even in the first centuries; while, on the 
other side, the fourth century produced some of the 
most distinguished Christians, the noblest christian 
families; for at no period, and under no form, have 
there been wanting true professors of the everlasting 
gospel, or faithful members of the invisible church. We 
speak here of the greater and the less in the scale of 
Christianity, and of the predominant spirit of the earlier 
and the later time. 

Another evil presents itself to us in this later period, 
when we contemplate Christianity from another point of 
view. It belongs to the divine qualities of Christianity, 
that, though combating selfishness in the individual 
heart to its inmost recesses, it yet by no means annihi- 
lates intellectual peculiarity, but rather illustrates and 
sanctifies it in its free development. It would be con- 



8 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 

traiy to its essence to refuse ( to become all things to 
all men. in order to gain all." and it has thus produced 
within its influence a boundless mine of spiritual and 
mental phenomena. This comprehensive, gentle spirit 
was established by Christianity from the beginning. 
Already, in the time of the apostles, we see the funda- 
mental forms of different directions of mind existing 
by the side of each other within the Christian community. 
One spirit animated the apostles, but exhibited itself 
differently, according to their human peculiarities. This 
is plainly shown to us in the historical narratives of 
the four evangelists. The three first conceived and 
expressed, in clear and general features, many indi- 
vidual points in the Messianic ministry of Jesus 
among his Jewish countrymen ; but with equal truth 
and fidelity does St. John exhibit him as the Son of 
God, and the moral Eedeemer of all mankind. It is, 
however, from both representations taken together that 
we derive the complete picture of Him, who was as well 
the expected Messiah of his people, as (in this sense at 
least) the not-expected Saviour of the human race. 
Just so we see reposing together, and harmoniously 
supplying what each wanted (in order to exhibit to the 
ardent, unworldly, contemplative mind the entire fulness 
of the christianized human mind), the profound, earnest 
feeling of a John; the ever-active, and yet speculative, 
thoughtful, enlarged, free intellect of a Paul; and the 
heroic, fiery zeal of a Peter, teaching by deeds. All of 
them, however, subserved one great object, and the more 
effectually from this very diversity of gifts. 

In like manner, we also find in the centuries im- 
mediately following a rich store of varied talents and 
gifted men in the Christian Church ; the practical sim- 



INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. V 

plicity of the Apostolic Fathers; the more scientific 
treatment of christian truths by the first founders of a 
christian theology, the Apologists; the realistic bias of 
the African teachers, the idealistic turn of the Alex- 
andrian; the more sober, sensible, critical tone of the 
early school of Antioch ; the predominant tendency to 
theoretic speculation in the Eastern divines ; the greater 
zeal for the immediate and practical in those of the 
Western Church. We find friends and opposers of 
philosophy, learned and unlearned men, supporters both 
of the allegorical and of the historical exposition, — all 
labouring together in active life, making good what 
each wanted in this variety of direction, but also, at the 
same time, restrained and limited by antagonism, while 
they were opposed in beneficial contest, in order that a 
one-sided argument might not be carried to extremes, 
and the predominance of one mode of thought and one 
dogmatic form might not crush the free life of christian 
truth. It is pleasant to contemplate this activity of 
mental energy, and to observe how the most varied 
directions of thought (which, if isolated and exclusive, 
would have been highly detrimental) promoted most 
powerfully the development of the inward life, amid 
their simultaneous action and mutual contests. 

But the free course of this development was com- 
pletely checked, when in the fourth century external 
force was introduced into a contest hitherto carried on 
by intellectual weapons. Now (far otherwise) outward 
means of compulsion were thrown into the scales of 
opinion along with internal principles and convictions. 
Now, all thinking men were required to understand a 
christian truth in precisely the same formula. Now, 
episcopal assemblages (the members of which were not 



10 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 

always the most pious or the most judicious of the 
clergy, while the greater number could by no means be 
considered as pure instruments of the Holy Spirit) 
determined upon the admissibility and objectionableness 
of different formulas, stamping one set with the seal of 
divine authority, branding others with the mark of 
condemnation. Now, that which had been decided 
by such an assembly (and that oftentimes under any- 
thing but free discussion) was carried out into actual 
life by the support of the civil law and external power, 
occasionally not without the application of violence and 
bloodshed. Now it was that a Byzantine court-theology 
was formed, which, commencing from small beginnings, 
by degrees came to such a point, that a Justinian was 
able, by the same act of power, to make a spiritual as 
well as a civil legislator, and that, under the aegis of his 
authority, an Origen and a Theodorus of Mopsuestia, 
though long in the grave, were yet condemned by 
persons who were not capable of comprehending the 
greatness of their mind, and not worthy to loosen the 
latchet of their shoe. Now, instead of peace being 
restored by the strong arm of power, the polemical 
disputes of the Christians with each other were kindled 
with the more violence, when they no longer had any 
external enemy to contend with. The whole Roman 
empire, from its head to its meanest subject, was in 
commotion, for the establishment of one dogmatic 
formula and the suppression of another; East and 
West were torn asunder ; cities and families were full of 
disquiet ; all was dogmatic and polemic, and this, in 
very few instances, from religious interests. It was a 
time of frightful party-spirit. But where parties exist, 
religious, political, or scientific, there is intolerance and 



INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 11 

persecution, be it open or concealed, with the weapon 
of the tongue or pen, or with those of force and violence; 
there is no just mutual estimate of views and efforts ; — ■ 
there, personal ties and relations are poisoned; there, 
the difference of opinion is traced to the most dishonour- 
able sources ; the opponent in principles is looked upon 
as a personal enemy, the erring as a criminal; and, 
generally, every individual, without regard to his real 
worth, is only that which he is to his party. 

It was in such an age, when the Christian Church no 
longer wore its most amiable features, that Gregory 
Nazianzen lived. But it is exactly in his conflict with 
such an age (especially during his, properly public, 
labours and ministrations in Constantinople) that many 
of his excellent qualities will stand out the brighter, 
while that which was rigid and repulsive in his character 
will assume a milder aspect. 



12 



SECTION THE FIRST. 



THE HISTORY OF HIS YOUTH : 

FROM HIS BIRTH TO THE THIRTIETH YEAR OF HIS AGE, — THAT IS, 
FROM ABOUT THE TEAR 330 TO 360. 

CHRONOLOGICAL SUBVEY:— We begin with the 
year 325. Just at the time when the Cappadocian 
bishops set out to join the Council of Nicsea,and during the 
stay of some of them at Nazianzum, Gregory's father (who 
was already a married man) was baptized. It was probably 
a few years after the Council that, in the person of our 
Gregory, was born one of the acutest and most zealous 
future defenders of its decisions. The childhood of Gregory 
(whosebirth, on probable grounds, we assume to have taken 
place a.d. 330) falls under the last period of the reign 
of Constantine the Great, who died in 337; his youth 
passed entirely under that of Constantius, who, after his 
father's death, was emperor of the East, and after the 
death of his brother (z. e., from 350) ruled over the whole 
empire. The church history of the whole period is 
filled with violent contests between the Arian and the 
Nicene parties; the first of these were favoured by 
Constantius in the East, the latter by Constans in the 
West. Quite, or nearly of the same age with Gregory 
is the Imperial Prince Julian (born a.d. 331), so that 
they also pursue their studies at Athens at the same 
time, a.d. 355. 



HIS FATHER-LAXD. 13 

CHAPTER I. 

HIS FATHEE-LAXD — HIS FAMILY — HIS BERTH AND EARLY YOUTH. 

Respected as Gregory was during his lifetime, and 
honoured as he was after his death (which, among other 
proofs, is attested by the fact, that to him alone, since 
the apostle St. John, the distinctive title of f O QeoXoyoe, 
or The Divine, was conceded), yet no positive account as 
to the place and time of his birth is extant. l The little 
town of Nazianzum in the south-west part of Cappa- 
docia, though neither of considerable size, nor remarkable 
for its pleasant situation, 2 has become famous from the 
circumstance, that Gregory usually bears the title of 
Nazianzen, or the Nazianzian, derived from thence. 
But whether that were because Gregory was born, or 
because he spent a great part of his life there, is a point 
not decided. An ancient account, not altogether to be 
rejected, affirms that Gregory came into the world at a 
certain estate or village called Arianzum, in the neigh- 
bourhood of Xazianzum. It is without doubt, however, 
that Cappadocia was his father-land. The accounts cf 
the moral condition of the land of his birth at that 
period are anything but favourable. The Cappadocians 



1 See the Appendix on both these points. 

2 Orat. xxxiii. 6, p. 607. Gregory himself puts it, as a reproach, 
into the mouth of an opponent : j.ukocl aot t) ~6Xlq ical ovCs 
ttoXiq, aXXd xbjpiov %r)pov Kai a\aoi, kcli oXiyotc oUovfitvov. 
Orat. xix. 11, p. 370. Gregory speaks of his father as Bishop of 
Xazianzum: tovto tov ixiKpoTroXirov to kpyov, Kai T])q KazkcgciQ 
rd cevrspa exovroc- And in Carmen v., 25. p. 75, where Xazi- 
anzum appears under the name of Caesarea (compare Tillemont's 
Memoirs, torn. ix. p. 692) : 

TprjyopLOv fj,vi]craiTo tov trpe(ps 'KaTTTracoKSGcriv 
H Atoicaicrapeiov oXiyrj tttoXiq. 



14 HIS FATHER-LAND. [SECT. I. 

of that time are represented to us as a cowardly, slavish, 
quarrelsome, suspicious people, prone to avarice and 
sensuality, liars, and faithless. 1 

Gregory himself frequently laments the laxity of 
morals among his countrymen — that is, of Xazianzum ; 
and the Cappadocians were even generally infamous in 
popular proverbs, in company with the Carians and 
Cretans. 2 Accustomed of old to priestly domination 
and a state of vassalage, the Cappadocians, at a later 
period, did not choose to accept the freedom of the 



1 The vouchers for this occur chiefly in a series of epistles by 
Isidorus of Pelusiuni, who flourished no long time after Gregory, 
at the beginning of the fifth century. Compare lib. i. epist. 351. 
352; epist. 485 — 490. Lib. iv. epist. 197. But more especially, 
lib. i. epist. 281, where, among others, it is said of the Cappa- 
docians : vttovXov yap kclI Trovnpbv wc iiri-nav to ysvoc, Eiprjvy 
[lev ov Ttp—ofiEvov, spLCt ck rpe^ofxevov, — a7raT)]\bv, dvaLcec, 
Spacrv, duXbv, gkwtttikov, dveXtuOepov, coXiov, jiiodvzpw—ov, 

VITipOTTTlKOV, TTOOQ -djEVCbc 6tV, TTOOC TO 7rClOOOKl)<JCU ~aY>'. 

Undoubtedly, such general descriptions of national character have 
often no grounds to rest upon but prejudice or national hatred ; 
yet, in this case, many circumstances tend to prove that Isidore's 
delineation, though probably somewhat exaggerated, is still not 
untrue. To touch more particularly one point only in heathen 
antiquity, — the domination of the priests of Comma must have 
been very injurious to the nation. Exercising authority equal, or 
even superior to that of the king, they possessed extraordinary 
wealth, invested in finely situated estates, and, in Strabo's time, 
6000 slaves (hpofovXoi) of both sexes, employed partly in tilling 
the land. The king also, and the principal families, were pro- 
prietors of the soil, and the peasants were obliged to work for 
them in a state of vassalage. — Strabo, xii. p. S09. Other parti- 
culars relating to the subject may be found in Heyne's Com- 
mentatio de Sacerdotio Comanensi, in the Commentaries of the 
Gottingen Society, vol. xvi. p. 101, and, particularly, p. 140. We 
shall find, therefore, the words of Isidore (lib. i epist. 487) very 
characteristic of the Cappadocians : olc 6 fiioQ ovk dXXoOtv ?/ ec 
SovXeiag icai ytrjTrov ict g gwigtcltcli. 

2 Tpia Kainra KaKiGTa. See Erasmi Adagia, pp. 309 and 
154. Edit. Francof. 



CHAP. I.] HIS FATHEK-LAXD. 15 

Eoman city, which was offered to them; 1 and in the 
succeeding centuries the relations of the military 
government, into which Cappadocia was incorporated 
as a province, were by no means adapted to operate 
favourably upon morals. Harsh and exacting greedi- 
ness on the part of the imperial officers, refractoriness 
and revolt on the side of the degraded people, meet us 
too often in the history of that period, and even in the 
history of Gregory. 

But in the midst of a degenerate race a higher spirit is 
ever wont to awaken its ministers and instruments ; and 
men of nobler natures set themselves the more boldly 
and steadily in opposition to their corrupt contem- 
poraries. Thus we find that even Cappadocia produced, 
in the course of the fourth century, a succession of very 
distinguished Fathers of the Church. 2 These men, 3 



1 Strabo, xii., p. 815. Justin., xxviii. 2. Sed Cappadoces 
munus libertatis abnuentes, negant vivere gentera sine rege posse. 

8 Isidore of Pelusium says, in this respect, of a part of the 
Cappadocians : sen yap avzig irkpa juoipa Ka~7racoKLuv irava- 
piarog, atf i)g hcsTvoi ysyovaviv, ol ttclvtcixov rqi (pwrl T))g 
eavriov iroXireiag tcai vovzecriag rd ri)g yrjg calovxhcc-vrtg 
Tsp/iara. — Lib. i. epist. 158. In another letter (1. i. ep. 352) he 
remarks to a friend, who could not bring himself to believe that 
such excellent men could have sprung from Cappaxlocian origin — 
that these very distinguished individuals and pious men very 
clearly proved the general corruption, since it is shown thereby 
that it is no moral natural defect, irovjipia e/iovrog. but their 
own individual fault, that had contributed to the production of 
their decay. 

3 Epist. 188, p, 850. Gregory says, l To honour one's mother 
is a holy duty ; but every one has another mother ; — the common 
mother of all is our native country? Orat. xliii. p. 772. 'Cappa- 
docia produces not only excellent horses, but also noble young 
men.' Gregory praises the Cappadocians in reference to their 
orthodoxy, Orat. xliii. 33, p. 796. He bestows very high praise, 
by name, on an inhabitant of the chief city of Cappadocia, 
Orat. iv. 92, p. 126. Unfortunately, we do not always know 



16 HIS FAMILY. [SECT. I. 

although often driven to a solitary life from natural 
inclination, and from the moral circumstances which 
surrounded them, yet, when they resumed their place 
in society, influenced the more powerfully the sentiments 
of their cotemporaries, as well by the earnestness of 
their bearing, as by the secret power of mind upon mind. 
And thus we are again justified in declaring that 
Gregory speaks with a kind of self-consciousness of his 
Cappadocia, and that it was a heartfelt object with him 
to deliver the sacred soil of his fatherland from the 
heavy charge of an universal corruption. 

In particular families, also, there is often maintained 
a better and a purer spirit. The domestic associations 
of the boy Gregory were entirely calculated to implant 
in his early awakened mind the fruitful germs of piety. 
He himself gives us a sketch of his parents' character 
with filial affection, but (it is to be lamented) in that 
oratorical, laudatory tone, which presents rather general 
features, than an accurate picture taken from the life. 
If he indulges in fancy here and there, after his manner, 
(though he expressly labours to guard against it,) 1 still 
the sketch is so far valuable to us, as it presents us, in 
a strikino- manner, with the moral view of that o-ene- 
ration. 

A circumstance, which we have to remark in con- 
nexion with so many great men (and especially among 
the Fathers), viz., that the direction of their mind 
and disposition was given to them by their mothers, 2 



with any certainty how we are to deal with such rhetorical 
passages. 

1 Orat. viii. 1. p. 218. 

2 THiat extraordinary and beneficial effects Christianity exer- 
cised on the position of married females, and on the social state 



CHAP. I.] HIS FAMILY. 17 

presents itself also in the case of Gregory, on whose 
youthful soul the strict, ardent piety of his mother, 
endowed as she also was with manly virtues, exercised 
more influence than the more quiet and gentler nature 
of his father. Nonna (for that was his mother's name) 
was born of a respectable christian family, and had been 
educated with care in the christian faith. 1 'She was' 
(according to the picture sketched of her by her son) 2 i a 
housewife after Solomon's mind; submissive to her 
husband in all things according to the law of marriage, 
yet not ashamed to be his teacher and guide in the 
practice of true piety. She solved the difficult problem, 
how to unite a high state of cultivation, especially in 
the knowledge of heavenly things, and a strict exercise 
of devotion, with punctual attention to domestic duties. 
Was she busily engaged in household cares 1 — she seemed 
to know nothing of the exercises of devotion; was she 
occupied with God and his worship? — all earthly busi- 
ness seemed strange to her, so entirely was she devoted 
to each. Experience had taught her an unlimited con- 
fidence in the effects of the prayer of faith; she was, 
therefore, most diligent in prayer, and overcame even 
the deepest sense of pain, for her own and for others* 



of the sex in general, is well known. Not so well known are the 
services which noble-minded women have rendered in the spread- 
ing and the establishing of Christianity, and principally by their 
educating sons, who afterwards acted a great part as distinguished 
Fathers of the Church. Some excellent remarks on this influence 
of pious women occur in Xeander's Denkv:urdiglceiten, vol. h\ 
p. 76. 

1 Orat. vii. 4, p. 200 : fir]T?jp dvutSev phv xai sk 7rpoyovojv 
kia^LEoofisvr] QEtp — s| ayiag airapxfiG ovtujq ciyiov (pvpafxa : and 
a like passage in Orat. xviii. 11, p. 337. 

- The whole of this description, here briefly given, is to be 
found in Orat. xviii. 7 3 p. 334 — 337. 

C 



18 HIS FAMILY. [SECT. I. 

sorrows, by the energy of prayer. She had attained 
thereby snch self-control, that in all the afflictions that 
befel her she never uttered a lamentation, till she had 
thanked God for the same. She thought it unbecoming 
to shed tears, or put on mourning garments on christian 
festival-days, so entirely was she penetrated with the 
thought — a soul filled with love of God should esteem 
everything human subordinate to that ivhich is divine. 1 
Still more important than the exercises of devotion 
(which yet, after the notion of those days, she carried 
out to the weakening of her body) did she consider the 
more active service of God, the relieving of widows and 
orphans, the visiting of the poor and the sick. Her 
liberality was inexhaustible, degenerating almost into 
sensibility; so that (as her son relates) she often said 
if it were practicable, she could sell herself and her 
children, that she might give to the poor the money 
thence arising. 2 In company with these beautiful traits 
in Gregory's portrait of his mother, we also find traces 
of an anxious, legal, and narrow-minded piety, rather 
than a free, spiritual tone of religion. It was not 
enough that she showed her reverence for God's service 
by a quiet and becoming behaviour, 3 but ( she did not 
even dare to turn her back to the holy table, or to spit 4 
on the pavement of the church. She was intolerant 
towards heathen women, so that she never offered her 



1 tyvxriQ y«p dvai SsocpiXovg vttokXLveiv role ^elolq 

CLTTOLV CLV$pW7riVOV. 

2 Orat. xviii. 21, p. 344. 

3 Olov to iii)7TOTi <po)vi)v nvrrjg ev lsooIq aKovtJ&rjvai (TvWSycic. 
j] tottolc, e%(i) ratv avayKa'nov Kai [xvgtlkujv {i.e., at the 
celebration of the Lord's Supper.) 

The translator gives this literally, but with an apology to 
English ears. 



CHAP. I.] HIS FAMILY. 19 

hand or mouth for any of them to salute. She ate no 
salt with those who came from the unholy altars of their 
false gods. 1 She never suffered her eyes to rest upon 
heathen temples, much less would she have crossed 
their threshold. She was as little inclined to visit the 
theatre.' 

ISTonna was united to a worthy man, who was also 
called Gregorius. Nothing would have been wanting 
to the happiness of this union had her otherwise 
excellent husband been a Christian. But he belonged 
to a community, the members of which, as it seems, 
mixed up together some Jewish and Persian notions, 
and without being devoted to a positive creed, paid 
honours after a very simple fashion to the Supreme God, 
(to) v\pi(TTU) 6ew,) and were thence called Hypsistarians, 2 
or worshippers of the Most High. This lay like a 
stone on the heart of Nonna, who had been brought up 
as a strict Christian; supported by constant prayer, she 
made every effort for the conversion of her husband to 
Christianity. 3 She urged him with entreaties, exhorta- 
tions, and threats; but, above all, she laboured to 
recommend her faith to him by active piety and 
affectionate treatment. Gregorius was overcome; a 
dream fortifies his resolution, or rather guides him to a 
fuller and clearer light. He seems in his sleep to be 
singing the commencement of the 122nd Psalm: 'I 
was glad when they said unto me, We will go into the 
House of the Lord.' JSTonna seizes the wished-for 



1 'A\\a firjok a\(ov Koivwvi](jai, fAr) on zkovgclv, aXKa /xrjdk 
fiiacrSuGav toXq airb ty]Q fiEJ3r]\ov /cat avdyvov rpairk^g, 

2 See the Appendix concerning the Hypsistarians. 

3 Orat. xviii. 11, p. 327. 

c 2 



20 HIS FAMILY. [SECT. I. 

moment, and persuades her spouse to accompany her to 
the christian church. Just at that time there chanced 
to be at Xazianzum several bishops, who were on their 
way to Xicaea. to attend the great council appointed to 
be held there by Constantine; among them was Leontius, 
bishop of the chief city of Cappadocia. After a short 
period of instruction. Gregorius was baptized in their 
presence. The circumstance of his receiving this 
instruction, not like the other catechumens, in a stand- 
ing, but in a kneeling posture, was taken as an omen of 
his future dignity, since bishops were wont to kneel at 
their consecration. Xot content with this, some of the 
bystanders avouched that they saw the head of Gregorius, 
as he emerged from the baptismal water, surrounded 
with a brilliant light ; and even the bishop who baptized 
him is said to have uttered a prophetic word respecting 
the future destination of the newly-baptized to the 
office of bishop. 1 

After allowing some time to elapse, for order's sake/ 2 
Gregorius became priest, and superintendent of the 
church at Xazianzum. an appointment to which, ac- 
cording to all appearance, he had been already destined 
by the bishops who were present at his baptism. The 



1 Orat. xviii. 13. p. 339. The minister who baptized Gregorius 
broke out into the prophetic words : on ror iavTov cidco\o}' : 
•jrvsvpari xpivtitv. It is clear from this (as the Benedictine 
editors rightly remark, in opposition to Baronius and Papebroch). 
that not Leontius of Caesarea. bnt the then Bishop of Xazianzuni 
was the minister who baptized him. The respective judgments 
of Tillemont and Le Gere upon this supposed miracle are in 
remarkable contrast, and very characteristic of both writers. For 
that of the first, see his Memoirs, vol. ix. p. 314 ; for that of the 
other, the Biblioth. Umverselle, vol. xviii. p. 6. 

- Orat. xviii. 16,. p. 340 : -KJTevtrai < r ih> ys n)v Leouxjviniv, ov 
Kara n)v vvv svKoXtav Rai dra^iav, aWa (.likoop tl ctdXiTrwi'. 



CHAP. I.] HIS FAMILY. 21 

christian community of that city had for a long time 
had no bishop worthy of the name, and was become 
rather irregular. l Gregorius certainly, from his previous 
mode of life, could have had no especial theological 
training (although, according to his son's account, he 
laboured here also to make up for his deficiency), but he 
possessed a pious, earnest, and, at the same time, a 
gentle mind, with an active zeal for promoting the good 
of his community. He displayed much vigour in the 
contest for the Nicene creed, to which he attached him- 
self, against the Arian party for some time triumphant, 2 
much o-entleness and forbearance to the erring: members 
of his flock. ' He was a man ' (it is thus his son re- 
presents him) l of an ardent spirit, but of a tranquil 
countenance; his life was full of elevation, his mind of 
humility; his disposition was plain and just, pious and 
devout, without affectation and hypocrisy; his dress was 
neat, but ordinary and simple; his conversation gentle 
and engaging ; he gave cheerfully, but in general left the 
pleasure of giving to his wife.' 3 In a course of active 
exertion, beneficial alike to his city and his congregation? 
this man, honoured and revered by his fellow-citizens, 
attained to almost a hundred years, during forty-five of 
which he had been an ecclesiastic. 4 The younger 
Gregorius often takes a pleasure in comparing his pious, 
aged parents with Abraham and Sarah. 

These parents had three children ; a daughter, named 
Gorgonia, and two sons, Gregorius and Csesarius. Our 
Gregorius, or Gregory, was (as was often wont to happen 
in those days), even before his birth, dedicated to the 



Orat. xviii. 16, p. 340, et seq. 2 Orat. xviii. 37, p. 358. 

Orat. xviii. 6, p. 334 ; 23, p. 345. 4 Orat. xviii. 38, p. 358. 



22 HIS BIRTH AND EARLY YOUTH. [SECT. I. 

clerical profession. or, in the more pious language of 
antiquity, given to God. Xonna had wished for a male 
child, and promised to give him back entirely to the 
service of God, from whom her prayers had obtained 
him. 1 "When she had actually given birth to a son, she 
hastened with the child to the church, and laid his little 
hands on the Holy Scriptures, in token of his dedication. 2 
Gregory afterwards often compared himself with Samuel, 
dedicated by his mother Hannah to God's service, even 
before his birth. 

We may suppose that Xonna brought up the son 
bestowed upon her in a full knowledge of her vow, and, 
therefore, thoughts and feelings may have early developed 
themselves in his soul, which otherwise are wont to be 
very rare at such an age. 3 Under the influence of his 
mother's teaching, he conceived an inclination for the 
unmarried state, and was confirmed therein by a dream. 4 
This bias Greo*orv retained throughout his life. He 



1 Carmen de se ijjso et advers. Episcop., 1. 805, p. 70. 

Gey, 

'Qi 7rph> yev'saSai fi' i) tskovv v-h^^to. 
See also. Carmen de Rebus suis, 1. 426 — 439. Carmen de Vita 
sua, 1. 8, et seq. p. 2. Orat. xviii. 33". Orat. ii. p. 49. 

2 Carm. i. de Rebus suis, 1. 440, p. 38. BifSXiotai c' Ifiac xh a € 
iiyviGE Seicuc. 

3 Carm. i. de Reb. suis, 1. 456, p. 39. 

4 Carmen iv. 1. 205, pp. 71, 72. The dream was as follows : — 
e Two lovely virgins, of equal age and equal beauty, seemed to 
come down to him. Both were simply dressed and unadorned ; 
they had long white garments, reaching to the feet, fastened 
closely with a girdle. Their faces were covered with a veil, 
which, however, did not prevent their downcast eyes, the blush 
of modesty on their cheeks, and around their soft, closed mouths, 
from being seen. They both had somewhat of an unearthly air, 
but yet they advanced to meet the boy in a friendly and affec- 
tionate manner. On his inquiring their names, they said they 
were called Purity and CJiastity ; that they were companions of 



CHAP. I.] HIS BIRTH AND EARLY YOUTH. 23 

showed himself in his discourses and poems, as well as 
in his actual life, an admirer of the unwedded, virgin 
state, without, however, denying the blessing attached 
to marriage as a divine ordinance. Strange as this 
mode of thought may appear in a mere boy, yet it con- 
tributed, in Gregory's case, to elevate the earnest tempera- 
ment of his soul, and directed all his efforts so much the 
more to an inner, spiritual world. His parents gave 
him the Holy Scriptures to read, 1 and made every effort 
to procure him a comprehensive, scientific education, to 
which a bias was already existing in his mind. A fond- 
ness for the study of eloquence soon showed itself in 
him most especially, and he looked upon it as a means 
of defending the truth with so much the greater power. 2 
The young man was not able to satisfy this powerful 
impulse towards higher cultivation in the insignificant 
little city of Nazianzum. His wealthy father 3 sent him, 
first of all, to Csesarea, the capital of the province, 4 



Jesus Christ, and friends to those who, in order to lead a per- 
fectly godly life, renounced all earthly connexions. Having ex- 
horted the boy to unite himself in spirit with them, they ascended 
again to heaven.' 

1 Carm. de Vita sua, 1. 99, p. 2. 

8 Carm. de Vita sua, 1. 113, p. 2. ... icai yap Itfyrovv Xoyovg 
covvat fiorjSovg rove; voSuvg rolg yvrjalotg. 

3 That the elder Gregory was very wealthy, is proved by the 
fact of his having built, chiefly at his own expense, a splendid 
church for the christian community of Nazianzum. Orat. xviii. 
39, p. 359. But his son says decidedly {Orat. xviii. 20, p. 343), 
STraidr) Kal oIkov Sfiepicrev avrijj, icai kttjCjiv gv\l\lzt pov, 6 
TTavTa KaXCJg Kal TroitciXug oiicovofxojv Seog. If therefore, ad- 
dressing his father (Orat. iii. 6, p. 70), he says, di 9 r\v (Sruav ic\r}- 
povofilav) 7r\ov(Tiog av, kolv -qg irkvrjQ, this is only to be taken 
rhetorically, or as a possible case. The extraordinary acts of 
beneficence, also, for which Gregory extols his mother would not 
have been practicable without great resources. 

4 Gregor. Presbyter in Vita Greg or. Nazianz., p. 127; and par- 
ticularly Greg. Naz. Orat., xliii. 13, p. 779. 



24 HIS BIRTH AVD EARLY YOUTH. [SECT. I. 

where the sciences were then cultivated, and not with: at 

seas, particularly as several learned bishops had suc- 
cessively filled the episcopal chair there. It is highly 
probable that Gregory's first acquaintance commenced 
here with Basilius (or Basil). 1 a young man of a like 
mind, who being nearly of the same age, and having 
been brought up in a similar shared wi:h him 

his studious efforts, an acquaintance which subsequently 
ripened into the most intimate friendship, dedicated by 
a kindred zeal to the holiest objects. An ardent love 
of science had brought both youths hither; the same 
ardour again separated them. Basil went to Constanti- 
nople^ and Gregory to Caesarea. in Palestine, where the 
schools at that time were famous for the successful cultrva 
tion of oratory. 2 Gregory's preceptor in Palestine (accon 
ing to the testimony of Jerome . : - was the rhetorician, 
Thespesius; one of his fellow-students was Euzoius. 
afterwards celebrated as bishop of the Palestine Cfesarea. 
A lively taste for learning prevailed of old in several 
of the christian communities of Palestine and Syria. 
Edessa in Osroene. Antioch. and Caesarea. had been. 
or were become, nourishing seats of christian science. 
which found copious nourishment in excellent libraries 
(e.g.. the celebrated collection of Paraphilias, in Caesarea 



1 That Gregory did not first make Basil's acquaintance at 
Athens, appears plainly ir : . ":::, 14, p. 7S". Where else 

should they have become acquainted rather than in Basil's native 
aty 

2 Orojt. vii. p. o. 201: iyu) tier role KardlLaXaifTrirtji' i-, tear a- 
fisivac TraicEVTTjoioic, tivzciri rcre Kara :,-:;<•: 1: f.oura, 

3 Hierony: i ca p. 113. p. 203. E a : ; i a - :-.. | n i 
Thespesium rhetorem. cum Gregorio Xazianzezi': t i:: ::, aio- 
lescens Caesareae ernditua est : et ejuBdem postea urbis episcopus, 
&c. 



CHAP. I.] HIS BIRTH AXD EAELY YOUTH. 25 

A succession of distinguished men might be. named, 
who were educated, laboured, or lived a long time in 
those parts. It may suffice here to mention Origen, 
Eusebius, and Jerome, since the famous masters of the 
school of Antioch will readily occur to every reader. 

But even here Gregory's thirst for knowledge could 
not be appeased: he left Csesarea for the ancient seat 
of christian erudition, 1 where Clemens and Origen, and 
so many celebrated men, had once learnt and taught, and 
where now the episcopal chair was filled by one who 
was reverenced as the pillar of orthodoxy. 2 Un- 
doubtedly, the brighter day of those sciences which 
Gregory chiefly wished to cultivate was gone by at 
Alexandria; still he could obtain there very easily a 
complete philosophical education. We possess no par- 
ticular accounts respecting his residence and studies in 
this once splendid, but then decaying cosmopolis ; but 
we venture to surmise, that his inclination to the 
Platonic philosophy, his partiality for Origen, and his 
almost unbounded reverence for Athanasius, dated their 
commencement from this period. 

Gregory was carried on from one fountain of science 
to another; nor did he find any repose 3 till he came to 



1 Carmen de Vita sua, 1. 128, p. 3. 

- Athanasius. It cannot be positively decided whether or not 
Athanasius was actually present in Alexandria at the time of 
Gregory's residence there ; nor whether Gregory's extraordinary 
reverence for him was grounded on a personal acquaintance with 
him. That might, however, not improbably have been the case. 
Athanasius certainly had returned to his native city about the 
year 350, and Gregory's stay at Alexandria may have been about 
that time, if not a year or two earlier. 
3 Carm. de Bebw suis, 1. 98, p. 33. 

~Movvov Ipoi Qikov egke Xoytav k\soc, ovg avvdyeipav 
' \vtq\li] te 3 cvcrig re, Kai 'EWctcog tv%OQ } Acn)vai, 
Talc. 67ri TroW kfjLoyrjGa ttoXvv \povov. 



26 HIS BIRTH AND EARLY YOUTH. [SECT. I. 

Athens, that place which has been consecrated by so 
many glorious recollections, the oldest source of all the 
higher branches of mental cultivation. 1 Even there, 
also, the brightest period of art and science had long 
since passed away. Yet Athens still, at least in pro- 
portion, maintained its ancient reputation, for scarcely 
could any one of the great cities (even the newly-founded, 
opulent Constantinople forming no exception) compete 
with her in regard to the ardent cultivation of science. 
Amidst profound degeneracy, and in most unfavourable 
circumstances (freedom, and even the sense of nation- 
ality, having been long lost), she still retained some- 
what of the old, deep-rooted life and spirit of knowledge. 
The active mind of Gregory, animated by an ardent 
zeal in pursuit of knowledge, had well nigh led to his 
early death on his voyage to Athens. He could not 
wait for the time of year favourable for the passage, but 
embarked in a vessel of iEgina during the stormy 
weather of autumn. 2 When they were now in sight of 
Cyprus, they encountered a fearful tempest; at the 
same time their supply of water failed, and thus several 
days were passed in the alternative of perishing by 
thirst, or by drowning. Amidst the common distress, 
Gregory suffered from a deep anxiety, not for his out- 



1 See Creuzer s Oration. De civitate Atlienarunu omnis Hinnani- 
tatis Parente. Lugd. Batav. 1809. Libanius aptly calls Athens 
'the eye of Greece.' and adds: rijv ri'jc 'AStyyclg ttoXii', ti)v 
fijjrspa TIXariovoQ kcli Ajmocrzkvovc, kcli rrjg dXXvg rijg ttoXvei- 
Covg ocxpiac. — 'EwircKp. stri 'lovXiav. p. 531. Reisk. 

2 Gormen i. de Rebus mis, 1. 310—340,. p. 36. Carm. de Tit. 
sva, 1. 120 — 212, pp. 3. 4. Detailed accounts of the storm he 
encountered occur in both these passages. Compare also Orat. 
xviii. 31, p. 351, where the whole is related with more brevity 
and simplicity. 



CHAP. I.] HIS BIRTH AND EAELY YOUTH. 27 

ward life, but for the safety of his soul. 1 Although 
brought up on christian principles, he had not been 
baptized, but. after the custom of those days, had put off 
his baptism to a riper age. He was now afraid that he 
should die ere he had received the external rite of 
admission to Christianity, which he considered the 
necessary condition of eternal happiness. Overpowered 
with anguish, he threw himself down, with rent garments, 
weeping and praying, and gave such lively vent to his 
lamentations, that the ship's crew, threatened as they 
themselves were with immediate destruction, sympathised 
with him. With burning tears, he promised afresh to 
devote his whole life to God. They were saved: 2 some 
Phoenicians, on passing by, furnished the ship with 
water and provisions. The storm subsided, and they 
landed safely in the harbour of ^Egina, from whence 
Gregory hastened to the long wished-for Athens. 

This occurrence was now looked upon by Gregory as 
his second dedication to God's service. 3 Many persons 



1 See the just-quoted passages in Gregory's Poems, but espe- 
cially Orat. xviii. 31. p. 352 : TLavruv ce rbv koivov zavarov 
cecolicotujP; 6 ri)c tfrvxqg ))v tfioi 6o3EpojTipoc, ekivcvveov yap 
d^Xioc avt\§ilv rai citeXegtoc. ttoZlup to wvtvpaTicbv 

icoj.j Iv role (jovlkoXq vcavi k. t. \. 

2 The prayer, also, of his parents contributed (according to 
Gregory's belief) towards his delivery, they being made aware of 
his danger by a secret presentiment. ' Marvellous dreams, visions, 
and the like, (which Gregory often willingly, and even in this 
case, Orat. xviii. 31, p. 352, interweaves with the thread of his 
biography. | will be omitted in this work, as lying beyond the 
province of history, and because so much of a really historical 
character demands our closer attention. 

3 C Vita sua. 1. 191, p. 4 : — 

^.OC, slwOV, ElpLL /CCU TO ~OlV KCIL VVV ETC 

2r c\c \ie \tppy, KTr\\ia :wv croi ruiiiav, 
Trig coi SaXaaaijz ciopov iZriyvtvuEvov, 
Evyy te [irjTpbc Kal (poSoic UZaurioig. 



28 HIS RESIDENCE AS A [SECT. I. 

may take offence at the indispensable necessity of 
baptism for future happiness, here assigned as the cause 
of Gregory's deep distress; this is not the place to 
discuss the question : such, however, was the full con- 
viction of that age, in which Gregory participated. "We 
shall not, however, withhold our sympathy from the 
young man, who, at the prospect of immediate death, 
feared not so much the loss of life, as the harm which 
his soul might suffer. It is very remarkable to see, as 
we do here, the conviction of the indispensable necessity 
of baptism for future happiness existing together with 
the deliberate postponement of that rite. This phe- 
nomenon seems only to be accounted for by concluding, 
that the danger of dying unbaptized was considered as 
less than that of falling away from grace already 
attained, by reason of an unworthy life, or especial sins, 
after baptism, when a restoration to a state of acceptance 
was hardly to be expected, 



CHAPTEK II. 

HIS RESIDENCE AS A STUDENT AT ATHENS. 

Athens, as we have already remarked, was still, at that 
time, the most celebrated emporium of learning in 
Greece; in the animated cultivation of which, with a 
strange and eager impulse, not only the neighbouring 
regions of Greece, but even the more remote Asia, par- 
ticipated. Young men from all quarters, even from the 
distant Armenia, and other Asiatic provinces, flocked 
hither, and emulously crowded round the famous teachers 
of rhetoric and philosophy, who bore the name of 



CHAP. II.] STUDENT AT ATHEXS. 29 

Sophists — a name which, at that period, had again 
attained some degree of honour. These philosophers 
and orators of the Athens of that day certainly had not 
the genius of a Socrates, a Plato, or a Demosthenes. 
They laboured, by artificial means, to preserve the forms 
of antiquity, whilst its noble simplicity, depth, and 
freedom, had long since departed from them. They 
strove, by means of a mystic idealism, to maintain a 
religion whose life and spirit had disappeared. They 
exerted themselves generally for external effect, and 
condescended to the use of magic and theurgic rites, 
(the favourite studies of that age,) and even to worse 
means, for the purpose of gaining influence over the 
youthful mind. Every sophist had his own school and 
party, who were devoted to him with incredible zeal; 
nor had they any higher aim than to spread their own 
fame with that of their master, and to increase the 
number of their partisans. There prevailed in most of 
the young students at Athens (as Gregory strikingly 
expresses it) a complete Sophistic furor. 1 They all 
canvassed for their master, since it was not the custom 
to attend different lecturers at the same time, but each 
one, as a rule, attached himself to one. The poorer 
students especially lent themselves to this business of 
recruiting, since they got exemption from class payment, 
or even some degree of remuneration, if they succeeded 
in bringing to their respective sophists a good supply of 
new-comers. An unprejudiced youth could scarcely set 
his foot upon Attic ground without being already 
claimed by the adherents of a party: they wrangled, 



1 Oral, xliii. 15, p. 791: ao^wTo\iavovaiv ' 'Adi]vy<yt tCjv 
vkujv oi tt\eT<jtoi /cat dcppovscTSpoi. 



30 HIS RESIDENCE AS A [SECT. I. 

they struggled, they threw themselves around himj and 
it might easily happen that a young man was torn quite 
away from the very teacher whom he had come expressly 
to attend. The whole of Greece was drawn into this 
partisanship of the students for their favourite sophists \ 
so that this recruiting (or touting) was carried on in the 
streets and harbours of other cities also. Nor were the 
literary disputes and altercations of the different schools, 
among themselves, less animated; indeed, they seldom 
concluded without coming to blows. 1 This perverted 
and wild excitement/ 2 in which Gregory found himself? 
could by no means suit his noble mind. It was a 
comfort and refreshment to him that, not long after his 
arrival, his countryman, Basil, also arrived at Athens 
from Constantinople, to whom he now attached himself 



1 The vouchers for this description, besides Gregory's 45tk 
Oration, (which, especially at § 15. p. 7S1, contains many inte- 
resting particulars,) are to be found chiefly in Libanius cle Vita 
sua, p. 13, et seq., edit. Keisk : and in some of the letters of the 
same Sophist in Eunapius, Titce Sophistar. in Procures., pp. 
130 — 133, or at pp. 71. 75, Boisson et Wyttenb. : in Photius, 
in Billiotlicc. Cod. SO, p. 189. The particulars relating hereto, 
collected by TTyttenbach, in the BibliotJieca Critica. are veiy in- 
teresting. Vol. viii. part x. p. 86, et seq. : and also in his remarks 
on Eunapius, p. 351. 

2 Orat. xliii. 14, p. 780 : . . . 'A&fjvag rag X9 vc > a Q ovtujc tfioi. 
Kai t&v Ka\a>v -upotkvovc. eirrsp rivi' ekbIvom yap //oi rbv arc pa 
tovtov iyv&piuav TtXewTepov, ovis irpiv dyvoovutvov. A repu- 
tation for distinguished eloquence had already preceded the 
arrival of Basil, and, on the especial persuasion of Gregory, he 
was received by the other students with more consideration than 
was usually shown to new-comers : for the following practice, 
which Gregory relates (Orat. xliii. 16, p. 782) with a sort of agree- 
able circumstantiality, prevailed among the young men at Athens : 
'On the arrival of a freshman [rig t&v vkiav) at Athens, one of 
that party which has gained him to themselves receives him as 
his guest ; he is then bantered by every one after his pleasure, 
sometimes with refined, and sometimes with coarser wit, according 



CHAP. II.] STUDENT AT ATHEXS. 31 

most affectionately. The connexion between Basil and 
Gregory, which heretofore had been merely acquaintance, 
now first became a hearty friendship, through a trifling- 
incident, which, however, gives us a lively insight into 
the state of excitement then prevalent among the young 
men at Athens. The students seem to have been 
divided, not only according to their respective teachers 
in the schools, but also into certain fraternities, 1 formed 
of those who were natives of the same country. The 
respective parties had their leaders, who also acted as 
their champions in scientific contests. The fraternity 
of the Armenians is expressly named by Gregory as 
being particularly hostile to Basil, because he, though a 
new-comer, excelled many of them who had long been 
at Athens in eloquence. They entered into a contest 



as he himself has been better or worse brought up. The pretence 
is, that they hereby take away a little of his self-conceit, and ac- 
custom him to the practice of obedience. "With all this rough- 
ness, however, Gregory himself thought the custom not ill -meant, 
and certainly it constituted the actual admission to the privileges 
of companionship. In prosecution of their plan, the young men, 
two and two, in regular procession, go with the novice to one of 
the public baths ; on their approaching the entrance of it, those 
in front all at once raise a wild cry, and command the procession 
to halt, as if admission had been refused them. They then throw 
themselves upon the doors, and in appearance force an entrance. 
All this is done merely to frighten the new-comer, for after they 
have gotten into the interior of the building, and the candidate 
for initiation has taken a bath, they then receive him in the most 
friendly manner, as one who is now their equal, and invested with 
all their privileges.' This mock ceremony, which shows us how 
academical customs, notwithstanding external variations, still 
continue essentially alike, was dispensed with in Basil's case ; a 
very rare instance, as Gregory remarks. He himself, therefore, 
does not seem to have formed an exception to the rule. 

1 They are called (pparpiai, brotherhoods, in Gregory's poem, 
de Vita sua, 1. 215, p. 4. The leaders of the procession are called 

TTQOGTaTCll TQV \OpOV. 



32 HIS RESIDENCE AS A [SECT. I. 

with him, and were on the point of being beaten by 
him, when Gregory, unsuspicious of their bad intentions, 
supported them, as the weaker side, and rendered the 
victory of Basil doubtful. In the course of the dispute, 
however, Gregory remarked the spiteful sentiments of 
the Armenians, and passed over immediately to the 
side of Basil, who now enjoyed a complete triumph. 
This slight circumstance made the two friends objects of 
most violent hatred to the Armenian fraternity, but 
bound them to each other so much the more closely. 1 

They studied together, especially in the schools of 
rhetoric, grammar, mathematics, and philosophy, as 
well theoretically as practically ; music, also, as a means 
of attuning the soul to softer and purer sensations, was 
not neglected. Even of the science of medicine they 
endeavoured to acquire at least the philosophical part. 2 
Their instructors were probably the celebrated sophists, 
Himerius and Proseresius. 3 By them principally they 
were led into those rich and flowery fields of ancient 



1 Orat. xlii. 17 — 20, p. 783 — 785. It is probable, also, that on 
this occasion the national jealousy between the Armenians and 
the Cappadocians exhibited itself. 

2 These subjects are at least enumerated by Gregory himself, 
Orat. xliii. 23, pp. 788, 789. 

3 This certainly, as far as T know, is nowhere expressly affirmed, 
but it may with great probability be concluded. Speaking of his 
instructors, Gregory says : rrapd roaovroig fikv yap oi vfisrepot 
TraiSturai, Trnrp' baoig (tjicovovto) 'ASrjvai. Orat. xliii. 22, p. 787. 
The most famous Athenian sophists of that time were Himerius 
and Proseresius, whose lives, writtenbyEunapius(that of the former 
circumstantially, that of the latter only briefly), are, in general, 
sufficiently known. What high respect was enjoyed by Proasre- 
sius in his day appears, among other proofs, very strongly from 
an extremely nattering epistle addressed to him by Julian, Fpist. 
2, p. 373. The Romans, also, to whom he was sent by Con- 
stantius, erected a statue in honour of him, with this inscription : 



CHAP. II.] STUDENT AT ATHEXS. 33 

Greek literature, a more intimate acquaintance with 
which displays itself in all the writings of Gregory. 

How seducingly must heathenism have often presented 
itself to them, clothed as it was in the attractive garb of 
poetry and philosophy. Before them stood respected 
masters, who recommended the old religion with all the 
insinuating art of rhetoric, and their myths by the 
philosophical mysticism with which they expounded 
them, and sought to soften what was offensive in them 
by means of allegories. Around them, on the heights 
and in the valleys, stood the serene and noble temples of 
the gods of antiquity; and whichever way they looked, 
the gods themselves presented themselves in agreeable 
and attractive, or in grave and venerable forms. In 
truth, Athens was still, at that time, the most attractive 
seat of heathenism in Greece; nowhere else had it so 
many friends, so many weighty and influential pane- 
gyrists. It was no easy matter, under these circum- 
stances, to continue a true Christian; indeed, many 
christian youths were here won over to the old faith. 1 



Regina Rerum Roma Regi Eloquentise. Eunap. in Proceresio, 
p. 157, or 90, Wyttenb. et Boissonade, and the notes thereon at 
pp., 322, 382. Respecting Proaeresius, the reader may also com- 
pare Sozom. Ecc. Hist., vi. 17. Gregory probably had also at- 
tended the lectures of the first sophist of the time, Libanius, — at 
least Socrates says so, who elsewhere mentions Himerius and 
Proaeresius as his masters. Socrat. Ecc. Hist., iv. 26. The asser- 
tions, however, of Socrates concerning Gregory do not bear the 
characteristic of entire credibility. During his rather long resi- 
dence at Athens Gregory might have attended several sophists 
in succession. 

J Orat. xliii. 21, p. 787 : pXafitpal fihv role aXXoig 'ASrjvai, 
ra elg '<p v X^l v i °v 7 a l° ^a^Xwc tovto u7roXn/x/3a^frat role svat- 
j3t(JT£poLQ' /cat yap ttXovtovgi rbv kclkov ttXovtov, hdioXa, jiaXXov 
ri)g dXXrjg 'EXXd^oc, ko.1 xaXfTro^ jjltj awaptr cmjSyivcli rolg tovtojv 
iiraivkraig kcli avvriyopoig. 



34 HIS RESIDENCE AS A [SECT. I. 

Gregory and Basil stood firm ; the christian faith had 
been too deeply impressed upon them at home ; nor 
was the glitter of poetry or philosophy able to efface the 
strong impressions of a strict christian education. It 
was their pride, in the midst of heathen-minded Athens, 
to be and to be called Christians. l They continued even 
here in constant external communion with the Church. 
In their simple mode of life they had only two sources 
of refreshment — viz., in attending their teachers, and 
(what was still dearer to them) the services of the 
Church. They strictly avoided the feasts and banquets 
of the other young men, and the theatre, where heathen- 
ism might be presented to them in a more seductive 
form. Thus their faith not only maintained itself un- 
tarnished, but was strengthened still more by the 
temptations which it resisted. 

Basil had, at first, been dissatisfied with Athens. 2 
Gregory calmed his mind by showing him the right 
view to take of the things which pressed upon him; 
this, and the other circumstance already mentioned, 
helped to form a closer union between them, which soon 
became so intimate, that they planned their entire mode 
of life in unison : they lodged, they took their meals, 
they studied philosophy together. 3 But it was not so 
much the intercourse of the outward as of the inner life, 
which bound them permanently to each other; their 
connexion was founded upon their common love of God 



1 See in the above-quoted places : r)jjuv St to jjisya Trpayjia kcu 
ovojia, XpiGTiavovg tivai tzai dvofi&ZecrSai. 

8 Orat. xliii. 18, p. 784: ksvyjv paicapiav Tag 'ASrjvag wvo- 
jxa&v. 

3 Orat. xliii. 19, p. 785 : . . . Trjviicavra ijdri tcl navTa r\[Ltv 
d\\i]\oig, o/xooTfyoi, bfJLodiaiToi., <rvfx(pveig, to kv fiXswovrtg. 



CHAP. II.] STUDENT AT ATHENS. 35 

and of the Redeemer, upon their cdnimon efforts after a 
godly life; reposing on this everlasting foundation, it 
defied the storms of the time, and the chilling, deadening 
incongruities of society. Had it been only a human 
friendship, it might well have been disturbed, but as 
being at the same time a heavenly one, it could not 
be destroyed. Even as an old man, and after all that 
passed between him and his friend Basil, Gregory speaks 
of this friendship of his youth with youthful ardour : l 
' How,' (says he, in his eulogy upon Basil,) c how can I 
think of this friendship without tears'? A like hope 
stimulated both of us in the pursuit of an object, which 
is generally wont to excite the most violent jealousy — 
literary distinction. But envy was far from our hearts, 
while they were filled with a generous emulation. There 
was a friendly contest between us, not who should carry 
off the first prize, but which should be allowed to 
adjudge it to the other, since each cherished the repu- 
tation of his friend as if it were his own. We seemed, 
in fact, to be only one soul that animated two bodies.'' 2 
It is in such striking terms as the following that Gregory 
shows how their friendship, originating as it did from 
love for the Eternal, must necessarily be indestructible : 3 
'Mere human love, as it relates only to transitory 
things, must, in like manner, be transient, like the 



1 Orat. xliii. 20, pp. 785, 786. 

8 Carmen de Vita sua, 1. 229, p. 4 : 

Ta iravra pev $?) kolvcl, ical ipvxr} pia, 
Avolv dtovcra aiopdrujv Siclgtcigiv. 
"O 8* fig ev rjfxag dicKpepovTwg r/yays, 
Tour' rfv, Seog re icai 7r6$og ?u>v icpeiacrovcjv. 
In the like spirit Cicero says : Amicitias vis est in eo, ut unus 
quasi animus fiat ex pluribns. — De Amicit. cap. xxv. 
Orat. xliii. 19, p. 785. 

D 2 



36 HIS RESIDENCE AS A [-SECT. I. 

flowers of spring. As the flame glows no longer when 
the fuel is consumed, but is extinguished with it, so a 
merely physical fondness cannot maintain itself when 
its appropriate nourishment is burnt up. But a divine 
and pure affection, because it relates to untransitory 
things, is. for that reason, durable; and the farther it 
proceeds in the contemplation of true happiness, the 
stronger it binds, and the closer it connects with each 
other the lovers of the eternal: that is the law of 
heavenly love. I am well aware how my feelings have 
carried me away beyond all limits, and without regard 
to time : nor do I myself know how I came to use these 
words, but I cannot refrain from giving them expression." 
Would we fully understand the affectionate terms on 
which these two great men lived, we must especially 
consult their correspondence. But. as many separate 
points will have to be discussed hereafter. I shall now 
quote only two passages, which beautifully exhibit the 
overflowing affection of Gregory for Basil: — "I have 
taken you/ he writes to his friend. 1 ' as the guide of my 
life and the teacher of my faith, and whatever else can 
be called beautiful and great. As such I always con- 
sider you; and whenever any one celebrates your 
praises, he does it either in company with me or in 
unison with my sentiments, so entirely am I enchained 
by your mild wisdom, so entirely, in the purity of a 
devoted heart, am I yours. And no wonder, since the 
longer the acquaintance, the greater the experience : and 
the more complete the experience, the more valuable the 
testimony that one friend can give of another. If there 
be anything which gives a value to my life, it is your 



E_pist. 26; ial 20,) p. 788. 



CHAP. O.] STUDENT AT ATHENS. 37 

:rty. your friendship,' Another letter of Gregory^ 
of a more playful character (in which also the happy 
reminiscences of Athens are particularly renewed), 
concludes with these words : — •' Who has ever admired 
thing upon earth as I have admired you ! There is 
but one spring in the year's cycle,, one sun among the 
stars, one heaven, which embraces all; so. also, if I have 
any judgment in such things, and if (which I do not 
believe... that judgment is not blinded by love, there is 
only one voice, among all, worth listening to ; and that 
voice is yours." The friendship between Gregory and 
Basil was the mure intense, because, amidst their perfect 
agreement on the highest principles of religion and 
morals, it was animated by the difference of their intel- 

tual individuality. Basil was more ardent and more 
inclin n. Gregory more calm and 

Ltemplafcive. Thus the one was able to guard the 

other fron ing too far in his particular direction, and 

both could thus, in some measure, complete what was 
wanting in themselves. 

At Athens, Gregory formed an acquaintance (of a 
very remarkable character, and one which subsequently 
g ; we him no pleasure ) with the nephew* of the Emperor 

v.stantius. the prince Julian, who afterwards succeeded 
to the throne, and played a short but extraordinary part 
in the drama of the world's history. 1 This prince was 



1 Omann here (and even Xeander. in his Eccles. Hist.) speaks 
: Julian as the ■;-: _:'■: ::. instead of cousin to Constantius, as Gibbon 
and Warburton describe him. Julian's father, called Julins 
Constant: 7 then to C instantine, and uncle to Constantius 

:i: e Emf :: 7:. who, being Oonstantine's son, was therefore Julian's 
cousin. — T .: Cox or. 

Libanius gives more detailed information concerning Julian's 
-..[.- ■:•: life at Athens, E-trac. i-i 'IciXiaiu, 7, .'it, Rci.sk. 



38 HIS RESIDENCE AS A [SECT. I. 

then (a.d. 355) resident there, by the permission of his 
jealous uncle, for the purpose of pursuing his studies. A 
singular predilection for paganism and pagan mysteries, 
which flourished particularly in that city, already dis- 
played itself in Julian. He was as strongly attached to 
the rhetorical and philosophical advocate* of heathenism, 
as they in their turn (as well as all the admirers of the 
old religion) directed their attention, with hopeful 
expectation, to the young and distinguished member of 
the imperial family; Gregory, therefore, who acknow- 
ledges that he by no means possessed a quick-sightedness 
in discerning character, had yet no difficulty in an- 
ticipating the very worst in Julian. He calls upon 
those who were with him at that time at Athens to 
testify, that soon after he had become acquainted with 
Julian, he had uttered those words — l How great an 
evil is the Roman empire here training up ! ' ] What it 
was which caused Gregory to judge so severely of the 
young man, 2 he has himself informed us, in a perhans 
somewhat exaggerated picture of Julian's demeanour and 
external appearance : c I was led to become a prophet,' 
he says, ' by the restlessness of his behaviour, and the 
extravagant tone of his animation. It also appeared to 
me no good sign, that his neck was not firmly set on 
his shoulders; that those shoulders often moved con- 
vulsively; that his eye frequently glanced round timidly, 
and rolled as if in frenzy ; and that his feet were never 
in a state of repose. As little was I pleased with his 
nose, which breathed pride and contempt; with the 
ridiculous distortions of his face, which yet indicated the 
same pride; his loud, immoderate laughter; the nodding 



1 Olov kolkov i) 'Ftojjiaiujv tpkipeu 2 Oro.t, y. 23, 24, pp. 161. 162. 



CHAP. II.] STUDENT AT ATHENS. 39 

and shaking of his head without any reason; his 
hesitating speech, interrupted by the act of breathing; 
his abrupt, unmeaning questions, and his answers not at 
all better, but often self -contradictory, and given without 
any scientific arrangement.' 1 If we deduct the effect of 
a strong personal dislike upon the pen of this delineator, 
we have still remaining the picture of a restless, fiery- 
tempered man, of a mind incessantly active and excited; 
of one who was haughty in the conscious feeling of 
power, but yet externally practising dissimulation, 2 
while there was wanting to his great natural abilities 



1 It is not uninteresting to compare with the above what 
Julian himself tells us of his own external appearance. He 
evidently tried much, especially as Emperor, to keep up a peculiar 
exhibition of himself, and was fond of uniting the unpolished 
severity of a Cynic with the dignified bearing of an ancient hero, 
"With self-satisfied complacency he speaks (in his Misopogon, 
p. 338, seq.) of his bristly hair, his manly breast, and his long, 
shaggy beard, while he still censures Nature for not having 
given him a handsomer countenance. Nay, he does not hesitate 
to speak in terms of commendation of his ink-stained hands, his 
long nails, and even of the minute inhabitants which dwelt in the 
wilderness of his beard ! Ammianus Marcellinus (xxv. 4) gives 
a much more agreeable description of him than he does of 
piTTi self. ' Mediocris erat staturae, capillis, tanquam pexisset, 
mollibus, hirsuta barba in acutum desinente vestitus, venustate 
oculorum micantium flagrans, qui mentis ejus angustias indicabant, 
superciliis decoris et naso rectissimo, ore paullo majore, labro 
inferiore demisso, opima et incurva cervice, humeris vastis et 
latis, ab ipso capite usque unguium summitates lineamentorum 
recta compage, unde viribus valebat et cursu. ' In another passage, 
Ammianus mentions some peculiarities which agree better with 

Gregory's description : ' Levioris ingenii, linguee fusions 

et admodum raro silentis.' 

2 That Julian had early practised the art of dissimulation, and 
whilst he was entirely inclined to heathenism had yet externally 
played the Christian, is not merely the expression of hostile sus- 
picion on the part of Christian writers (see Gregory's Or at. iv. 30, 
pp. 90, 91), but is also expressly allowed by heathen writers (see 
Ammian. Marcellin., xxi. ii.) Compare with lib. xxii. cap. 5. 
Libanius, also Julian's eulogist and friend, does not deny the 



40 HIS RESIDENCE AS A [SECT. I. 

that judicious educatiou which would have regulated 
and directed them to the right object. 

The residence of Basil and Gregory at Athens appears 
to have been of great length; indeed, the period of 
academical study was at that time generally much longer 
than it is now-a-days. Gregory arrived at Athens just 
in the bloom of youth, and left it when he was about 
thirty years old. ] A residence of such a length rendered 
Athens very dear to most students, and the departure 
from it uncommonly difficult. 2 The separation was 
made especially difficult to the two friends from the 
earnestness with which both teachers and fellow-students 
wished positively to retain them at Athens. Gregory, 
indeed, in spite of all his efforts, was forced to remain, 
whilst Basil, who had more urgent motives for a speedy 
departure, returned to his own country. It seems to 
have been the wish of those who detained Gregory, to 
induce him to come forward in the character of a teacher 
of rhetoric in Athens. 3 This occupation, however, 



truth of the representation, but only endeavours to excuse it by 
a poor attempt at wit : Xlaoj—oc c svravSra fj.v^ov av i—oi^iev. 
ovk bvov \E0v77j kovtctidv, dW bvov copd rbv \sovra' KCLKllVOQ 
ijcti fisVf a eicsvai kquttov, ecokei cs rd d<7<pa\s<T7sp a. 
E7TLrd(f). ettl lovXiav. — p. 528. Beisk. 

1 Carmen de Vita sua, 1. 112, 239. pp. 2, 4. 

2 Carmen de Vita sua. 1. 212. p. 4 et seq. Graf, xliii, 24 ; p. 759. 
Ovckv ydp ovtojc ovoevi Xvmjpbi'. tag role ekeIce (jvvi'6/j.olc, 
'A^i]}>ujv kcu dX\))\ojv TEfj.vEazat. 

3 Most of the biographers of Gregory (on the assertion of 
the Presbyter Gregory, who says — Tpi]y6pwc ce d~oVi KarEtx^ro 
toXq A5i]vala)v poiT!]7a1c. jJ.iiTE ri]v e'^ocov avro) tmyxopovm Kai 
rraiCEVEiv avrovc s/cXiTrapoi'crt, rov te <7o6kjtik bv Zpovov 
7rapaKa\ov(7i #€%f<73m) explicitly assume, that the fellow-students 
of Gregory detained him solely that he might take possession of 
the Sophistic chair. But he himself does not express himself on 
this point with sufficient clearness for such a positive conclusion. 
He says (in his Carmen de Yita sua, 1. 256) : 

'QC CI] XSyUJV COJVOVTEQ EK yl]O0V KOCiTOQ. 



CHAP. II.] STUDENT AT ATHENS. 41 

could not have suited the mind of Gregory, since 
scarcely had Basil taken his departure, when we see 
Gregory also following his friend's example. He set 
out upon his homeward journey by way of Constanti- 
nople, where, without any previous concert, he fell in 
with his brother Csesarius, who had just arrived from 
Alexandria (where he had for some years been studying), 
on his return to his paternal home. 1 Csesarius had 
devoted himself to the study of natural philosophy and 
medicine, and appears at that time to have obtained a 
distinguished reputation, since the most advantageous 
offers were made to him if he would remain at Con- 
stantinople. But brotherly and filial affection prevailed 
in the heart of Caesarius over all these attractive pros- 
pects; he could not resolve to let his brother return 
alone to his parents' home. Their aged mother, Nonna, 
had often wished and earnestly asked of God in prayer, 
that her sons might again set foot together on the 
paternal threshold. This her wish was now fulfilled. 
They both returned to the arms of their parents in good 
condition, and well furnished for the business of life. 

In the course of Gregory's education, thus far related, 
we find the germs already set of all that was afterwards 
developed in him. In company with superior abilities, 
he had by nature a serious disposition ; a strict and 
religious education drew him off still more from the 
external to the internal world ; he learnt from childhood 
to consider himself as consecrated to the service of God, 
and to regard knowledge as a mean for that object. 
All the places of instruction which he visited stimulated 
him to the study of eloquence. His residence at 



1 Orat. vii. 5, 6, 7, 8, pp. 201—204. 



42 HIS RESIDENCE AT ATHENS. [SECT. 1. 

Alexandria infused into him an inclination to the 
Platonic philosophy, a partiality for Origen. and the 
theology and exegesis of that school; a reverence for 
Athanasius and his dogmatic principles. At Athens he 
became still more familiar with Greek literature, and 
more skilful in the logic and rhetoric of the day. His 
aversion, however, to heathenism and its glitter o-rew 
stronger — his love for simple, genuine Christianity more 
firmly fixed. Here, also, was already formed his devoted 
friendship with Basil, and the foundation laid for his 
dislike of Julian ; two things which had an extraordinary 
influence on his whole life. 



43 



SECTION THE SECOND. 



HIS MODE OF LIFE IN CAPPADOCIA, PARTLY IN SOLITUDE, PARTLY 
LN PUBLIC ECCLESIASTICAL EMPLOYMENT, ABOUT A.D. 360 — 379, 
AND, THEREFORE, FROM HIS THIRTIETH YEAR TO HIS FORTY- 
NINTH. 

CHRONOLOGICAL SUEVEY:— The beginning of 
this section falls still in the reign of Constantius, 
who soon, however, departed from the stage of life. 
Exactly at the time when Gregory returned home from 
Athens (a.d. 360), Julian was proclaimed Augustus, or 
partner in the throne, by the Gallic legions at Paris. 
In November of the year 361, Constantius died, and 
Julian ascended the imperial throne. At the same time, 
probably at Christmas, 361, Gregory was ordained priest 
by his father. After Julian, in 363, had found an early 
death in the Persian war, the succession of christian 
emperors was not again interrupted. Jovian, who leaned 
to the Athanasian side, but at the same time tolerated 
all parties, reigned only seven months. He was suc- 
ceeded in 364 by Valentinian, who associated with him 
his brother Valens in the government. In the West, 
Valentinian, tolerant or indifferent, yet gave the victory 
to the orthodox or Homoousian party; Valens, in the 
East, favoured the Arians, and persecuted their op- 
ponents. The Nicene creed had however, meanwhile, 
powerful champions. In the West, Damasus (bishop 
of Rome since 366), Ambrose (bishop of Milan since 
374); in the East, for a long time, Athanasius (from 
a.d. 373), and after him Peter, his successor in the see 



44 DIFFERENCE IX THE TtJBN OF 3IIXD [SECT. II. 

of Alexandria; we may add, especially, Basil (bishop of 
Caesarea, in Cappadocia, since 370), his brother Gregory 
of JNTyssa, and our Gregory of Nazianzum. Yalentinian 
was made emperor in the year 375; Valens in 378. 
The former was succeeded by his sons, Gratian and 
Yalentinian II., who, after the death of Yalens, asso- 
ciated Theodosius with themselves (a.d. 379) in the 
government. 



CHAPTER I. 

DIFFERENCE IN THE TURN OF MIND IN GREGORY AND HIS 
BROTHER, C^SARIUS. 

The two brothers were gifted by Nature with very 
different intellectual talents; but now, from deliberate 
and spontaneous judgment, their courses of life diverged 
still more widely from each other. Both of them were 
alike endowed with superior abilities, and with a lively, 
quick apprehension ; both of them had been accustomed, 
by the education they had received in their early years, 
to an unwearied activity in the pursuit of knowledge. 
Gregory, however, was, from a child, more inclined to 
seriousness, to self-denial, to retirement from worldly 
things; Csesarius developed more into the man of the 
world, yet without renouncing the pious principles which 
he had received in the paternal mansion. The former 
devoted himself, with all his thoughts and aspirations, to 
the unseen world, and became a theologian ; the other 
to the world of sense, and became a natural philosopher 
and a physician. Piety had been implanted by educa- 
tion in the souls of the two brothers as the basis of their 
entire existence; but this fundamental principle operated 



CHAP. I.] IX GREGORY AXD CJESARIUS. 45 

and expressed itself in the two very differently. To 
Caesarius it served as a light, now clearer and now more 
dimly burning, through the very intricate paths of a 
life, sometimes favoured by fortune, and sometimes, also, 
shaken by unhappy accidents. In Gregory, it became a 
consuming fire, which shone through his whole life, and 
already, in his early days, destroyed within him, if not 
everything, yet almost everything, that leads us to take 
pleasure in the joys and gratifications of the world* 
CaBsarius was inclined to an active life, and undertook a 
variety of offices. Gregory had an invincible and only 
too-predominant inclination to a solitary, contemplative 
life \ it was with an effort that he could bring himself to 
engage even in ecclesiastical employments; his eye 
seemed ever glancing onwards to the quiet contemplation 
of heavenly things. 

Ceesarius had devoted but a short time to his parents 
and his father-land, when those dazzling promises and 
prospects again allured him to Constantinople. Con- 
ceivable as this is in a young man, who, being furnished 
with the stores of a scientific and refined education, 
wished not to be buried in an obscure little provincial 
town, but to enter at once upon a more distinguished 
career, yet this step was not entirely approved of by 
his family, especially by his brother. He was appre- 
hensive that the virtue and. piety of Csesarius might 
totter on the slippery footing of a court-life. The 
promised splendour did not dazzle the youthful Gregory, 
for he considered it a greater honour ' to be the last and 
least with God, than to be the first and greatest with an 
earthly king.' He perceived, also, that this proceeding 
on the part of his brother (although he himself declared 
his chief motive for his future residence at court was the 



46 DIFFERENCE IX THE TURN OF MIND [SECT. II. 

fair prospect of being able from thence to work the 
more advantageously for his native country) was not 

free from the charge of ambition. 1 Gregory, however, 
is so considerate as not to blame his brother strongly 
on account of this step. Caesarius had scarcely arrived 
at Constantinople, and had given some small proof of 
his medical knowledge, when the Emperor Constantius 
(whose distrustful, suspicious character was not often 
wont to promote suddenly to great honour one who was 
yet unknown) took him into the number of his court 
physicians. 2 and treated him with especial regard. His 
pleasing manners made him a favourite with the 
Emperor and the great men of the palace; but all this 
good fortune could not destroy the deep impressions of 
a pious education upon his mind. Even here, at court, 
it was the pride of Caesarius, not only to bear the name 
of a Christian, but also to deserve that title in deed. 
And. what is particularly pleasing. Gregory extols most 



1 Orat. vii. P. pp. 203. 204. ~Msra tovto cot?]c i-i?vuia. kcii 
rov TrpoararevELi 1 ri)c ~6Xeloc. loc tf.it ys gvvett u^ev, rolg 3a<7i- 
Xelolc ciciofir. ov ttcivv [.lev iiulr otXa rroicvrra. ecu Kara 
*, nJa//r. k. r, X. 

2 Orat. vii.. 10, p. 204. Tarrsrai /.lev yap n)v -cu'ori]v 'ev 
iarooTc 7aEu\ — c£V rclc clXclc rov SaciXcujc evzvc :>,: Xru.ovu.Ercc. 
rag [.lEyiorac Kaorrovrai riy.dc. This was no slight iistinerion in 
the court of Constantius. for that emperor was r ::: rmelv dis- 
trustful and cautions respecting those whom he ; imitted to his 
society. Amniianus Marcellum xxi, 16, (Constantius! exaininator 
meritoruui nonnumquam subseruposus. palatinas dignitates velut 
ex quo dam trihuens perpendiculo. et sub eo ;:;;:; celsum a liquid 
in re^ia repentinus adhibitus est vel incognitus. This ■ nemo" of 
Anmiianus might almost make us doubt respecting Gregory's 
account : but it is probably not to be taken so strictly, that one 
or two exceptions might not have occurred, Besides this,, the 
appointment which Caesarius obtained at first, probably was not 
such as to be reckoned among the offices and dignities which 
Anmiianus had expressly in his thoughts. 



CHAP. I.] IX GREGORY AMD C.ESARIUS. 47 

of all that quality in his brother, which formed the 
great feature in the character of their father, and one 
which, under such circumstances, is so seldom wont to 
be kept inviolate — viz., high and unaffected simplicity. 1 
Whilst his brother was thus making his first entrance 
into society, Gregory was already feeling an inclination 
to withdraw from it. His thirst for knowledge had 
been only partially satisfied, and served only to awaken 
within him a longing of a higher kind. His predi- 
lection for quiet contemplation developed itself with 
stronger force; and if it cannot be denied that Gregory 
yielded too much to his bias for a contemplative, solitary 
life, we must not, on the other hand, overlook the fact, 
that there are men of contemplative natures, who 
(whether they wish it or not) are continually drawn 
away to the abstracted contemplation of supersensual 
things by a sort of intellectual instinct; just as others, 
by an equally powerful impulse, are carried into active 
life, and involved in its busy transactions. This con- 
templative inclination (which, however, is the special 
gift of only a few individuals) must be allowed to have 
its peculiar value, provided it does not claim for itself a 
higher degree of piety, nor exalt its own manner and 
practice as the common law for many. In this sense 
we consider the bias for a life of solitude, which often 
took an irresistible possession of Gregory's mind, by no 
means so objectionable as it may appear to many. 



1 Orat. vii. 10, pp. 204, 205 wc fit]Ckv tlvai kcli rr\v 

KpdrrjroQ a.7r\67r)Ta irpbc n) v eKtivov ^tajpovfxev7]v. 



48 GREGOKY SKETCHES FOR HIMSELF [SECT. II. 

CHAPTEE II. 

GREGORY SKETCHES FOR HIMSELF HIS PLAX OF LIFE. 

On returning home to his parents, Gregory was expected 
to engage himself in the duties of civil life. The 
highly-educated young man was required to exhibit 
proofs of his proficiency in eloquence, to come forward 
as a teacher of that art. or even to enter upon the 
profession of a public advocate. 1 Gregory certainly 
complied so far as to speak several times before an 
audience; 2 but he could not bring his mind to follow 
the regular calling of a sophist, or a legal advocate. 
His thoughts were turned to another object, to the 
pursuit of which he now solemnly bound himself afresh 
by means of the baptismal vow. 

The ancient writer of Gregory's life 3 places his 



1 Socrates. Eccles. Hist. iv. 26. Even if we had not the some- 
what ambiguous testimony of Socrates, it were in itself probable 
that he did so, since it was the usual path pursued by young men 
who had cultivated the study of oratory. 

8 Orat. xliii. 25, p. 790. Carmen de Yit. sua, 1. 265, p. 5 : 
'RXSov. XoyovQ Ecsi%a. n)v tlvCjv vogov (Qu. tto-zov. Trans.) 

"E7r\?;cr' drcairovvTujv fie rov¥ we tl XP^°Q' 

3 Gregory,. Presbyter : immediately after relating the return of 
our Gregory to his father's house, he adds : Kal irpwrov jjlev to 
Stlov Xafi^dvu j3a7TTM7fia 6 Kal 7rpcp7]v ry cvvdfia TreGwriaixkvoQ. 
In the writings of Gregory himself. I find no very clear traces of 
his baptism having taken place at this time : and we might well 
wonder that he, having once been saved from the danger of a 
storm at sea, should not at once have been baptized, and not 
again (and that through a space of about ten years) be exposed 
to the possibility of dying unbaptized. It seems however, that 
he intentionally postponed the rite of baptism to that epoch in 
his life when, agreeably to his wishes, he should ha\ e decided 
upon that course of solitary contemplation, in which, whilst fol- 
lowing the bias of his own mind, he might devote himself exclu- 
sively to God's service. 



CHAP. II.] HIS PLAN OF LIFE. 49 

baptism at this period; and though other accounts, 
generally more definite, here fail us, we have yet no 
sufficient grounds for doubting this assertion. It is 
rather probable that Gregory was particularly induced 
by this holy transaction (which, to him, was so weighty) 
to give from thenceforth a still more earnest and strict 
direction to his life. Indeed, we find in the case of 
several other Fathers, that they commenced a new section 
of their life with their baptism; and from that point 
they placed more definitely before their eyes, and followed 
more steadily, the end and object of their exertions. 
Besides making a solemn vow at his baptism never to 
swear, 1 he formed anew the pious resolve to consecrate 
all of art and science which he possessed, all the energies 
of his life and soul, only and solely to God, and the 
spreading of Christ's kingdom. His gift of eloquence 
should serve no interests but those of God and the 



1 Carmen de Tit. sua, 1. 1102, p. 18 : 

tcai yap tip* dvufioroQ, 

'E£ ov XsXovfiai TTvevfxaroQ \apia\xaTi. 
Gregory, Presbyter, does not omit the mention of this circum- 
stance. Undoubtedly we find in the writings of Gregory himself 
several solemn, oath-like protestations (for instance, Orat. xxvi. 1, 
p. 471) ; hut it seems that these ought to be considered rather as 
expressions of high oratorical fervour, than as oaths in the proper 
sense of the word. Gregory very clearly expresses the principle, 
that he looked upon an oath as something particularly forbidden 
by Christ. — Orat. iv. 123, p. 146. Tn common, therefore, with 
the most distinguished Fathers of the earlier centuries and of his 
own time, he renounced oaths, as unbecoming to a Christian. See 
Staudlin's History of the Various Notions and Doctrines respecting 
Oaths, Gottenb. 1824, p. 72 et seq. Concerning the grounds of 
this conviction, he does not very clearly explain himself ; but he 
doubtless believed that Christ has wholly forbidden an oath, and 
that a Christian should be so thoroughly truthful, that in his case 
there could be no need of an oath. Probably the same considera- 
tion influenced Gregory also, which we find expressed by his 
friend Basil — that he who swears not runs no danger of swearing 

E 



50 GREGORY SKETCHES FOE HIMSELF [SECT. II. 

truth. c These/ (says he, very beautifully, of his 
orations 1 and his oratory.) -these I couseerate to Him, 
even all that is left to me, and iu which alone I am rich. 
Everything else I have relinquished, at the command of 
the Spirit, in order to get possession of the pearl of 
price, and to be the merchant who barters the small and 
the perishable for the great and everlasting. But the 
Word, and the art of preaching it, I still hold fast, as a 
minister of the Word; and this possession I will never 
deliberately neglect. And as I set little value on all 
earthly delights, so, after God, all my love is confined 
to this, or rather, to Him alone; for the spoken word 



falsely. At least, the following passage. Orat. iv. 123, p. 146, 

seems to indicate this : sttiookov ck {xiuorjcrai ij) bjioaai ovtoj ceivov 

KCll V7T8pOyKOP, W<77E KCLl TOP OQKO}' fiOVOV l)}Av TVy\a.VEiV CLTTLO- 

/.lorov. Some remarkable expressions concerning an oath occur 
in Gregory's 219th letter to Theodoras, p. 9 ( jS. where he explains 
that a written obligation, even without imprecations in case of 
failure, is as binding as a verbal oath ; and at the same time he 
thus exhibits his notion of an oath : -ailoviiv oi rrcWoi eavrovg 
Kara, rov Ifibv Xoyov ; Tore yikv Kara rwv cloujv ~ookeihevovc, 
opKovc vofiiKovrfg, rove syypa&ovc ce Ciya dvaBE/iarwv (for so 
probably must the unmeaning ci^a tujv ^epfidrwv be read) doo- 
(Jlojciv. aXX ol>x ookov v-oXafifiavovTEc' rcav yap rb pkv riuv 
Xpswy x ei P°yP a $ 0V ce&HzIv ttX'eov rije aTrXijc bpoXoyiag- rbv ck 
syyEypanfikvov ookov, dXXo n rj optsov v77o\)]\L6f.iE^a ; sat avr- 

TOfllOC ElTTElV. OOKOQ i}\llV EGTlV l) 701) E7TE 0UJ71]'7ai'70C KOM 7TEKJ- 

SEvroc 7r\i]oo6opia. Gregory here, I think, intends to say: ''a 
written obligation is more binding than a merely oral promise, 
and comes more nearly, if not exactly, to the force of an oath, 
even though no dpal kcii ava&epaTa {no prayers and offerings) 
may be associated with it ; it should therefore be looked upon as 
sacred as a solemnly uttered oath ; since an oath is, generally 
speaking, nothing else than that which conveys full certainty and 
conviction to inquirers and believers.' In this connexion, there- 
fore, Gregory might also say. that Christians should not swear 
at all, because their simple affirmation (as that of men who are 
perfectly lovers of truth and worthy of credit') must already pos- 
sess the highest degree of certainty which any one can require. 
1 Orat. vi. 5, p. 181. 



CHAP. II.] HIS PLAX OF LIFE. 51 

exalts the soul to God by a sort of insight; through it 
alone is God rightly apprehended; the knowledge of hirn 
preserved^ and made to grow in us.' l 

When Gregory; having in this manner renounced 
what had hitherto maintained so strong a hold upon 
hini; had resolutely devoted himself entirely to God's 
service; his only doubt was ; how he should immediately 
order his mode of life; so as to attain this object most 
surely. To give up the enjoyment of the world was 
his decided purpose; but two ways of doing this pre- 
sented themselves to him. Should he entirely withdraw 
himself from the world; — at least for a time; — as many 
holy men of old had done, as Elijah, John; and others? 
Or should he, whilst still living in the society of the 
world; contend in his own person, and by his influence 
upon others, against all that is properly called worldly ? 
By adopting the former plan, that of entire withdrawal 
from society, a man might (he thought 2 ) live for him- 
self, and his own sanctity, amid the calm contemplation 
of heavenly things ; but, in doing this, he is not beneficial 
to the common weal; he is as good as dead for others. 
On the other hand, if he remain in the intercourse of 
society, he may certainly devote himself to the interests 



1 . . . (ji drj Kcii fi6v(iJ Qebg KaraXa^pdverai yvrjviujg, kcli tt)- 
peirai, /cat kv vjpRv av^erai — i. e., the word preached from the 
source of true knowledge is the only means of bringing the Deity 
home to us with a clear consciousness, of preserving to us that 
knowledge in its purity, and of promoting its growth within us. 
How cheering is it, at an epoch when the externals of religious 
service had already begun to be obtruded so strongly upon the 
Church, to hear so powerful a judgment in favour of the exclusive 
value of the Word, the living, spoken word, as the truest expres- 
sion of the Spirit, and as the most effective means of stirring the 
mind and soul of the hearers ! 

2 Carmen de Tit. sua, 1. 280—311, p. 5, 

E 2 



52 GEEGOEY SKETCHES EELS [SHCII 

of others] bat Le himself cannot be -aid to live while 

his mind is in perpetual uiare-o la. :Lh- ^-ay ::.e 
advantages and :ar disadvantages of 1; :»th m«: ies ;: life 
presented themsel"es before Lim. He wished to unite 
the good, to avoid the evil of both: though, were he 
wholly to follow his inclination, a secret bias of bis 
nature would have invited him to the sfaDness :: a 
solitary life. l He e ontinued. tha - b b prese nt 

in his previous relations of life ; an 1 - 3 much the m 
because here the application and study ;: the Holy 
Scriptures 2 was more at his command, and also (what 
with him was a consid e : a t i o n ; : especi a I weight because 
by remaining at home he could promote the comfort 
and happiness of his aged parents, and serve as a support 
to his no longer active father in the discharge •::" bis 
ecclesiastical duties. 3 Gregory; however., lived at the 
same time by the strict rule of a solitary ascetic every- 
thing that could only be called indulgent, harmless g ratifi- 
cation, if it flattered the senses evca ac remotely, seemed 
to him objectionable. He went so far as even t: shun 
music, as something that gratifies the senses. 4 His 
food consisted of bread and salt : his drink, water; his 
bed, the bare ground; bis clothing of coarse and rough 



1 Gregory, a' though more inclined :: a contemplative life, "was 
jet far from ignoring :hr value ;: a practical, active :ne, or de- 
nying that the majority of men are destined fin the latter. Hie 

feeling was, that on this point every one ahoold hnoose according 
to his original in : h d : tion. 7r r ' L] 1 5 : 
Tlpa%iv TrpoTiu. - \ . c , 9 e 
"0~<pig teXelwv ipyov. q : ■. - Etovwy. 

i i - . ' il.::.. n •:;:. : Aau 
Si; fie irpbc r\v wi<pv>::.:_. •:" vm -\kov. 
• Carm. de Vit. sue. L 296, p 5 
s Ibid., 1. 311—320. pp. .:, 6. 
4 Cfaraa., L 70. p. 32 



CHAP. II.] HIS PLAN OF LIFE. 53 

materials. 1 Incessant labour filled up the day; prayers, 
hymns, and holy meditations, a great portion of the 
night. His early life, which had been anything but 
thoughtless, though not so very strict, now seemed to 
him objectionable; his former laughter now cost him 
many tears. Silence and calm reflection were become 
his law and delight. In a word, Gregory now, with 
all the ardour of youth, plunged into an asceticism 
which assuredly Christianity (whose object is not bodily 
mortification, but the spiritual sacrifice of the temper 
and affections) does not require; it was, however, a 
practice which in those times, even to the best-disposed, 
could appear all but essential, and, in Gregory's case at 
least, did not degenerate into a self-satisfied affectation 
of sanctity. When Gregory, also, in this relation, 
speaks of renouncing worldly property, it is perhaps to 
be understood to mean only, that he gave largely to the 
poor, and generally, that he abstracted his soul more 
and more from the enjoyment of earthly goods. An 
actual renunciation, or giving away of property, (as 
we find in the case of Antonius and others,) we cannot 
think of here, because Gregory was not yet in posses- 
sion of his property; and also because, even after the 
death of his parents, we recognise him, from several 
circumstances, (and even from his apparently genuine 
will and testament,) as a man of wealth. 

One principal motive which withheld Gregory from a 
life of total solitude arose, as it has been remarked, from 
his child-like, pious affection for his parents. 2 He was 



1 Carm. i. 1. 75, p. 32 ; and Carm. liv. 1. 153 — 175. In this 
poem he especially recommends silence, in connexion with solemn 
meditations, as a profitable exercise. 

2 Carm. de Rebus suis, 1. 135 — 141, p. 33. 



54: GREGORY IH SOLITARY LIFE. [SECT. II. 

desirous of assisting his father, and was now obliged to 
do so in relation to his domestic affairs. He found it, 
however, the source of endless annoyances. No man 
was ever less adapted than he to manage a household, 
to keep rude servants in order, to administer a not 
insignificant property, and, in case of necessity, to 
conduct a lawsuit with requisite consideration and 
dexterity. "Willingly would he have given all his 
property to the poor rather than stand for whole days 
before the tribunals, or listen to the clamour of the 
broker, the official collector, and the like sort of persons. 
He complains bitterly of these things ; l and his soul, 
which would gladly have taken its flight to a higher 
atmosphere, was often thereby so disagreeably brought 
down to earth, that it was difficult for him to keep 
himself in that calm, gentle, and especially that humble, 
resigned spirit, which alone he acknowledged to be 
becoming in a Christian. 



CHAPTEE III. 

GEEGOEY IN SOLITAET LIFE. 

In this manner, a more earnest longing for complete 
retirement from the world must have been produced in 
the soul of Gregory. Even while he was at Athens, a 
life of solitary asceticism had been his highest wish, and 
he had promised his friend Basil to retire with him into 
some quiet resting-place. That friend having conceived 



! Carm. de Rebus suis, 1. 140—160, p. 34. 

Kal yap ■xvKivai fie Kal dpyaXsai }j.e\s8ujveq — 
OvpavoStv Karayovaiv eni x^ ova M 7 ^' tyoTo. 



CHAP. III.] GREGORY IN SOLITARY LIFE. 55 

from his travels in the East (especially in Syria, 
Palestine, and Egypt) a still higher reverence for the 
monastic life, had prepared a solitary asylnm in Pontus, 
and there collected around him several persons of a like 
mind. 1 But he especially now desired to see near him 
his old acquaintance, Gregory, and with pressing earnest- 
ness sent him an invitation to join him. Gregory, how- 
ever, could not follow immediately, greatly as he wished 
to do so, and thus wrote his excuses to his friend: 2 
1 To make at once a candid confession, I have not kept 
the promise which I made to you, while we sojourned 
together as friends at Athens, — viz., to live with you 
after a philosophic 3 (i. e., ascetic) fashion. But, in truth, 
I have unwillingly broken my word, and only because 
a higher duty, which prescribed to me the care of my 
parents, outweighed the subordinate claims of brotherly 



1 They therefore lived a coenobite or conventual life, which 
Basil preferred to that of the anchorite. He was well aware that 
the life of entire solitude, though it allows a more undisturbed 
contemplation of divine things, may yet at the same time very 
easily become dangerous ; that, whilst it begets in him spiritual 
arrogance, the hermit is not subjected to the trials of virtue which 
serve as its probation in common life ; nor has he any opportunity 
of comparing himself with other men, better and holier than him- 
self. Basil, on this account, devised a plan, which Gregory thus 
describes : daKi]ri]pia Kal \x,ovaaTi)pia deifjidfjisvoQ jjihv, oil iroppw 

8k TWV KOLVOJVLKUJV Kal (JUyaCWV, Ovde lOGTTEp rglY^ TlVl fJLSV^J, 

ravra SiaXajSujv Kal cztt' a\\r)\u)v %wpt(7ac, aXka TrXrjGiov 
Gvva-^CLQ Kal cia^ev^ag' \va firjre to <pi\6ao(pov aKoivwvrjTov y, 
fir)re to irpaicTLKov a(pi\6(7o<pov. Greg. Or at. xliii. 62, p. 817. 

2 Gregor. Epist. 5, al. 9, p. 769. 

3 It may here, once for all, be remarked, that Gregory not un- 
frequently designates, by the expression i philosopher,' the Chris- 
tian ascetic and monk, and speaks of their mode of life as that 
which is truly 'philosophic.' Compare, among other places, par- 
ticularly Oral. iv. 71, p. 110 ; this use of terms, accommodated 
to the sense attached to them at the time, is common to Gregory, 
with other cotemporary writers. See Suiceri TJiesaur. Eccles. f 
sub verbo (pi\oGo<pia } vol. ii. p. 1441. 



w 


ere 


ex- 




: : 


L - 




Ir 



£>6 GKEG-OET IN SOLITARY LIFE. [fflBCT. II. 

friendship." Gregory, however, premie ::■ ^:eid at 

Several epistles of a more playful chara* 
changed between the two friends on thi 

which they both delineate the annoy o 
residence in a cheer:".;! tone and in lively 
may not be superfluous to extract frrm r-ther. more 
serious letters of these friends some passages which ex- 
hibit to us the life of these seelusionists from its brighter 
and purer side, and admit us to a more lively vie™ of 
its circumstances and relations, They already knew 
how to -elect -pots remarkable for their agreeable cha- 
racter or wild beauty for their place of residence; mis 

•There is (he writes) a lofty chain of mountains, covered 
with a thick forest, well watered on the north side by 
each clear brooks: at its foot is an expanse :: „ant:y- 
sloping fields, which are always enriched and fertilized 
by the mountain-streams. This meadow-land is naturally 
and so thickly fenced round with trees of the greatest 
variety, that they form almost a rem - .-::' end.; sure, and 
shut it in like a solitary island. On two sides descends 
a deep ravine : on the third side the stream throws itself 
from a declivity into the depth below, and forms an 
impassable barrier. And how shall I still further 
describe the sweet smell of the meadows, the refreshing 
breezes from the river, or the variety 01 hewers, and the 
vast number of singing-birds / But what makes the 
spot most pleasing to me. is that in addition to its fruit- 



- Basil, I.'.-. 14, :. i 
lively style to this lefcte 

Basil. Greg. BpuL 7 '.. a 



CHAP. III.] GREGORY IN SOLITARY LIFE. 57 

fulness in all other respects, it affords to rne the sweetest 
fruit of quiet and repose; and this not merely because 
of its remoteness from the bustle of the city, but because 
no wanderer ever treads this lonely wilderness, unless it 
be occasionally some hunter, who is in pursuit, not of 
bears or wolves (of which there are none), but of the 
deer, the roe, the hare, which this track produces in 
great numbers.' 

In such agreeable terms does Basil describe the spot 
where he resided. But the most charming scenery, the 
stillest solitude, can give no repose to the mind which 
does not already possess it. The tide of the passions is 
not appeased by the beauties of Nature ; another kind 
of influence is required for that, — an influence, however, 
which may certainly be aided and supported by the 
milder, and even the grander impressions of Xature. 
On this point we have a very remarkable confession in 
another of Basil's epistles : 1 i What I now do in this 
solitude, by day and by night, I am almost ashamed to 
say. I may, indeed, have relinquished my residence in 
the city as a source of a thousand evils; but myself I 
cannot leave behind, I am like those persons who, being 
unaccustomed to the sea, and attacked with sickness, 
descend from the large ship, because it rolls so violently, 
into a little boat, but find that there also they retain 
their sensations of nausea and giddiness. So it is also 
with me, for while I bear about with me my inherent 
passions, I am everywhere alike in distress. Therefore 
it is that, on the whole, I have not made much spiritual 
progress by virtue of this solitary life.' 

Basil nevertheless endeavours, in the subsequent 



1 Basil, Fpist. 2, t. iii. p, 71. 



58 GREGORY IH SOLITARY LIFE. [.SECT. II. 

part of the epistle, to prove that retirement from the 
world's business, celibacy and solitude, are still necessary 
for true peace of mind. i Retirement, however (says he), 
consists not in the act of removal from the world, but 
in this. — that we thus draw off the soul from the bodily 
impressions which stir up the passions : that we give up 
our native city and our father's house, our goods and 
chattels, friendship and marriage, business and occupa- 
tion, art and science, and are wholly prepared to receive 
no impressions in our hearts but those only of divine 
teaching.' 

It is possible (Basil thinks) in solitary retirement 
gradually to tame the passions, like wild beasts, by 
gentle treatment; to lay them asleep, to disarm them 
by turning away the mind from the allurements of sense, 
and employing it abstractedly in the contemplation of 
God and of eternal beauty; it is possible thus to elevate 
humanity to a forgetfulness of natural wants, and a 
blissful freedom from care and anxiety. The means 
recommended by him are chiefly the reading of Holy 
Scripture, the rule of life, and also the study of the lives, 
of holy men; prayer, which, when devoutly practised, 
brings down the Godhead to us, and purifies the soul to 
be its dwelling-place; and lastly, an earnest, habitual 
silence, that is more inclined to learn than to teach, but 
by no means of a morose or unfriendly character. At 
the same time, Basil desires that the outward appearance 
of one thus cultivating solitude should correspond with 
his internal condition. With a meek and downcast eye, 
with untrimmed hair, clad in sordid, neglected apparel, 
his gait should neither be an indolent saunter nor yet 
impetuous haste, but gentle and quiet. His garment, 
fastened round his loins with a belt, should be of coarse 



CHAP. III.] GREGORY IN SOLITARY LIFE. 59 

texture, not of a brilliant colour, suited alike for summer 
and winter, so substantial as to keep the body warm 
without any additional clothing; as to his shoes or 
sandals, let them also be suitable and without ornament. 
For food, let him use only what is most necessary, 
principally vegetables; let water serve for drink, at 
least for the healthy. For the principal meal, which is 
to begin and end with prayer, one hour should be fixed. 
His sleep should be short, light, and never so sound that 
the soul should be left exposed to the impressions of 
seducing dreams. 

In such terms Basil describes the monastic life. How 
much he contributed by his zealous practice to its 
spread in those parts, and to draw the monks to the 
neighbourhood of cities, in order to assist the higher 
clergy, and thereby into a more ecclesiastical life, is well 
known. Equally notorious also is it, how much farther 
the monks of the East, from respect to Basil, carried his 
rules and regulations in the following centuries. 1 That 
vivid description failed not of its object in regard to 
Gregory of Nazianzum. We soon see him, in fulfilment 
of his promise, setting out for Pontus. Here he lived 
with Basil a life of prayer, spiritual meditation, and 
manual labour. One portion of the day was set apart 
for the labour of the garden and the management of 
household matters, the rest to the study of Holy Scrip- 
ture and to religious exercises. One fruit of these 



1 We still, as it is well known, possess a series of monastic 
regulations (some longer and some shorter), under the name of 
Basil ; but that all of them originated with him, or exactly in this 
form, is more than doubtful. The reader may consult, on this 
subject, the extended investigations of Basil's learned Editor, 
Gamier, in Prcefat, p. 34, et seq. 



60 GREGORY IN SOLITARY LIFE. [SECT. II. 

studies, which were not simply practical, but also of a 
learned character, is said to be the extracts from the 
exegetic writings of the great Origen, which we possess 
as the work of the two friends, 1 under the title of 
Philohalia. This residence in Pontus was a source of 
great enjoyment to Gregory. At a subsequent period, 
when, with earnest longing, he thought of the higher 
life they had lived together, he called to mind with the 
same child-like pleasure a beautiful plane-tree, which he 
had planted in the vicinity of their abode, 2 and Basil was 
wont to water, ( Who (he writes to his friend) will give 
me back those earlier days, in which I revelled in 
privations with you 1 For voluntary abstinence is 
indeed far nobler than its enforced practice. "Who will 
restore to me those songs of praise and night-watchings, 
those upliftings of the soul to God in prayer, that un- 
earthly, incorporeal life, that communion and soul- 
harmony of the brethren who had been elevated by 
your precept and example to a godly life '? Who will 
re-kindle in me that eager penetration into the Holy 
Scriptures, and the light which we found therein under 
tjie guidance of the Spirit V 



1 Socrates (in his Eccles. Hist. iv. 26), after remarking how 
both these friends had adopted in common the monastic life, says : 
fjLer oh 7ro\v tcl 'QpiykvovQ fiifiXia (jvvayovree, 1% clvtwv T7]V 
epfirjvsiav tujv Uputv ypafifiariov kirkyvujuav — (a fact which the 
students of Gregory's scriptural expositions would remark for them- 
selves, even without the testimony of Socrates). Gregory himself 
transmits this Exegetic Chrestomathy, from Origen's "Works to a 
friend, with these words . Iva ck tl tcai vi:b\ivr\\Lci Trap ijfiwv £X 1 K) 
rb d* avrb Kai tov ayiov BaffiXsiov ttvktlov aTrearaXKafikv cot rijg 
'Qpiysvovg QiXoKaXiae, sicXoyaQ l\ov riov xP 1 1 (7 ^f JLlJJV T0 ~ L Q <piXo- 
XoyoiQ. Epist. 87, p. 843. Abundant literary information con- 
cerning this PhiloJcalia may be seen collected in Fabricius' 
Bibliothec. Grcec, vol. vii. p. 221, ed. Harl. 

2 Epist, 9, p. 774. 



CHAP. IV.] PUBLIC LABOURS OF GREGORY. 61 



CHAPTER IV. 

THE PUBLIC LABOURS OF GREGORY FOR THE ESTABLIS HM ENT 

OF PEACE. 

Gregory appears, however, not to have stayed very long 
with his friend. Perhaps he intended from the first only 
a short visit, and probably (as most of his biographers 1 
suppose) he was induced to return to Xazianzum by the 
following occurrence. During the endless and unhappy 
disputes concerning the relation of the Godhead of the 
Son to the Godhead of the Father, after several synods, 
none of which had produced a permanent or harmonious 
result, Constantius 2 (who notoriously favoured Arianism) 
convoked (a.d. 359) a new general council, but so con- 
trived that the Eastern bishops were to assemble at Se- 
leucia, in Isauria; those of the West, at Ariminium 
(now Rimini), in Italy. By means of this division (on 
the principle of divide et impera), he reckoned the more 
securely on carrying out his own particular views. We 
are here more particularly concerned with the latter 
meeting. The Fathers of the Church assembled at 



1 For instance. Tillemont, Memoir, pour servir a VHistoireEccles,, 
t. ix. p. 345. Schroekh, Kirch. Gesch., vol. 13, p. 287. 

2 The reign of Constantius was properly the age of synods. 
By this frequent holding of councils, he not only promoted con- 
troversy, but also injured the imperial revenue, destroyed the 
post establishments for travellers, and brought everything into 
confusion. See Ammian. Marcellin., xxi. 16 : Christianam religi- 
onem absolutam et simplicem anili superstitione confundens : in 
qua scrutanda perplexius, quam componenda gravius excitavit 
discidia plurima : quae progressa fusius aluit concertatione ver- 
borum : ut catervis antistituni jumentis publicis ultro citroque 
discurrentibus per synodos, quas appellant, dum ritum omnem ad 
suuni trahere conantur arbitrium, rei vehicularise succideret 
nervos. 



62 LABOURS OF GREGORY FOR [SECT. II. 

Rimini, 1 at first, and as long as they acted independently. 
and unalarmed by the threats of the court, confirmed 

the Xicene council in its entire compass, approved the 
use of the particularly disputed word • substance,' 2 and 
condemned as well, in general, the Arian opinions, as 
the principal advocates of the same in particular, as 
Ursacius, Yalens, Germinius, Aurentius, Gaius, and De- 
mophilus, after Ursacius and Yalens, at the commence- 
ment of the proceedings, had in vain endeavoured to 
bring the assembly to a ratification of the Sirmian for- 
mula of belief, which favoured Arianism. They informed 
the Emperor of this decision by a delegacy from their 
body, consisting of twenty, and requested of him per- 
mission to return to their dioceses, and protection during 
their journey. 3 These delegates, however, were antici- 
pated by the artful leaders of the opposite party, who 
knew how to prejudice the Emperor (who was, besides, 
an Arian) in favour of themselves and against the synod. 
When the delegates of the orthodox party arrived. Con- 
stantius did not give them an audience, excused himself 
on the plea of an urgent military enterprise against the 
Persians, and showed a desire of detaining the bishops 



1 SeeMansi, Collect. Condi., iii. 293. Socrat. Hisf. Feci, ii. 37. 
Sozom. iv. 17. Tlieodoret. ii. 15. All that is to be learnt from 
the writings of Athanasius, Hilary, and Jerome, respecting this 
conncil is to be found in Alan si. 

2 Substantia, ovaia — i.e.. in favour of the homoousian doctrine. 

3 The bishops thus express themselves, in the document pre- 
served by Hilary- in their address to Constantius : 'Oramus etiam 
ut prsecipias tot episcopos, qui Ariminio detinentur. inter quos 
plurimi sunt, qui setate et pa a pert ate defecti sunt, ad suam pro- 
vinciam remeare : ne destituti suis episcopis laborent populi 
ecclesiaruni. ' The bishops of Gaul and Britain, probably in 
order to maintain themselves in greater independence, boarded 
themselves at their own cost, while the other bishops lived at the 
public expense. 



CHAP. IT.] THE ESTABLISHMENT OF PEACE. 63 

at Ariminium, 1 whilst lie meanwhile prepared a smaller 
synod at Xicaea 2 in Thrace, and one which proceeded 
more agreeably to his wishes. Here the formula of the 
Sirmian council (which had already been proposed by the 
Arians at Ariminium) was adopted with slight altera- 
tions. In that formula the true Godhead of Christ, and 
that he was begotten before all beginnings (before all 
Eons), was certainly asserted ; but at the same time, the 
main disputed points were so artfully treated, that in 
reference to them they could also be turned to the ad- 
vantage of the Arian theory. Of the Son, it was said 
that he was Hike (ojxoloq) to the Father, according to the 
Scripture,'' but the important words, ' in all tilings {Kara 
Trdvra), were left out, and the use of the term ' substance 
rejected, because it does not occur in Holy Scripture. 
The decisions of this so-called conciliabulum at Mcaea 
were then forced also upon the larger assembly at Ari- 
minium, which actually received them, 3 and was mean 



1 As the bishops conducted themselves courteously to the 
Emperor, they would, he thought, grow more yielding by delay. 
He therefore appointed the delegates to meet him at Adrianople, 
but at an indefinite time — viz., when he should have finished a war 
which he was just then beginning with Persia. To the Bishops 
at Ariminium he wrote thus : Vestrse autem gravitati, interea ne 
molest um sit. eorum reversionem expectare. The assembled 
prelates therefore once more, at the near approach of winter, 
most urgently repeated their requests. Socrat., ii. 37. 

2 Socrates and Sozomenus assign as a motive for this choice of 
the city of Xicasa, the hope of deceiving the ignorant by con- 
founding the Xicene with the Xicasan creed : rif 7rapofioioj rov 
bvoiiaroQ (rvvapira£siv rovg cnrXovcrrtpovQ j3ov\6fievoi' ri}\> sv 
~Sitzaiq ydo tyjc RiSuviag irtGTivsivai kvb\iil,ov — says Socrat., ii. 37. 
But, surely, such a confusion of things and places would have pre- 
supposed very great simplicity and ignorance of the points of the 
controversy. 

3 At least, the majority of the members did so ; only twenty 
out of more than 400 bishops remained true to the Xicene system : 



64 LABOURS OF GREGORY FOR [.SECT. II. 

enough to thank the emperor for his despotic mode of 
instruction. 1 Encouraged by the result, he forthwith 
required all the bishops of his empire, even in the East. 
to subscribe this formula, and applied force to those who 
resisted. 

This subscription was of course required also of the 
Bishop of Xazianzum. the father of our Gregory. He 
did indeed so subscribe; whether he were intimidated 
by the imperial threats, or from a desire of peace, or 
from ignorance of the snare that was laid for him : though 
he had hitherto been a supporter of the Xicene Confes- 
sion of Faith. This step, however, which he probably 
took without a wrong intention, was attended with 
serious results for him. The monks of his diocese (as 
almost all monks of the time) were already, from their 
founder Saint Antonius, decided followers of Athanasius, 
and now, in no very mild fashion, made their bishop 
sensible of his dogmatic error. They were, (as the 
younger Gregory informs us,) though generally quiet 
and peace-loving, yet, when the defence of the orthodox 
faith was concerned, zealous, violent, and contentious to 
the extreme; and a regular schism would have taken 
place in the otherwise united community of Xazianzum, 



it is very mildly expressed by an ancient reporter, who says : 
Cm orthodoxorum (diqui metu (they must have been the majority \ } 
alii fraude decepti, subscripserunt. Quibns qui assentiri nollent. 
in extremas orbis panes exulatum niittebantur. 

1 The epistle of the bishops to Constantius. a model of abject 
flattery, begins thus: — ' Inlustratis pietatis face scriptis, maximas 
Deo retulimus et referimus gratias. quod nos beaveris intimans 
nobis ilia, quae cum discursione pietatis tuae facere deberemus. . . . 
nos beatos, quibus occurrit tanta felicitas." &c. And so it pro- 
ceeds in a still ascending scale of flattery, up to ( doinine. piissime 
imperator, ' with which in conclusion they greet an emperor, equally 
remote from every kind of piety. — See Mansi, pp. 315. 316. 



CHAP. IV.] THE ESTABLISHMENT OF PEACE. 65 

had not the Bishop's son himself interposed in the busi- 
ness. It is not quite clear whether or not the younger 
Gregory had himself taken part in the false step taken 
by his father, — the subscription of the Ariminian for- 
mula. According to some passages in his writings, it 
might almost seem to have been the case; 1 but he would 
easily be forgiven by the monks, with whom he was 
held in singular estimation on account of his inclina- 
tion to a solitary and ascetic life. Being therefore be- 
loved and revered on both sides, he was the most suit- 
able mediator \ and he actually brought about an entire 
reconciliation, while he prevailed upon his father to 
make a public confession of a perfectly orthodox faith. 2 
In an oration delivered on this occasion, he could praise 
both parties — the monks for their ardent zeal, though 



1 Especially Orat. xviii. 18, p. 342. The Benedictine editors 
are, however, by no means inclined to admit of such an error in 
so powerful a defender of the orthodox doctrine, and say : Id 
pietati erga parentein et humanitati datum videri debet, ut de 
culpa velut communi loquatur. Xicetas also, the commentator 
of Gregory, did the same before them. 

2 In the account here given I have followed that arrangement 
of things which appears to me most natural (and which Schroekh 
also has observed), without at the same time overlooking the 
fact, that the learned Benedictine, Clemencet, adopts quite 
another chronological arrangement. He places the division occa- 
sioned in the Xazianzen Church by the subscription of the elder 
Gregory in the year of our Lord 363, and therefore not in the 
reign of Constantius, but at the close of that of Julian, or early 
in the time of Jovian ; the settling of the dispute he places in the 
year 364. His reasons must be sought in his own work : to me 
they do not appear convincing. It seems to me much more 
probable, from internal grounds, that the elder Gregory sub- 
scribed the formula of Ariminium during the government of the 
Arian Constantius (and therefore a.d. 360), and that the passages 
in the later discourses of Gregory (of the years 362 and 363), and 
which pre-suppose a perfectly peaceable state of the Xazianzen 
community, have jnst so far a relation to that event, as they 
show the complete restoration of peace and unity. 



66 GREGORY MADE A PRESBYTER. [SECT. II. 

just then mistaken and exaggerated in defence of the 
right faith \ his father, for his public confession, whereby 
he had shown, that though he had externally wavered, 
yet he had always been orthodox in heart and mind. 1 

Gregory looks upon the temporary separation only as 
an event through which the necessity of peace and har- 
mony may have been made more manifest; and this 
peace, the ancient boast of the church of Xazianzum, is 
most urgently recommended by him, — God himself, in 
the eternal harmony of his being, the angels in their 
happy union, and the universe in its beautiful order, 
being made use of by him as striking emblems of peace. 
The true ground of union, however, should always rest 
upon agreement in the faith in God and in the doctrines 
taught by Him. 



CHAPTER V. 

GREGORY IS MADE A PRESBYTER, AXE) SOOX AETER WITHDRAWS 
HIMSELF FROM XAZIAXZUM. 

Whether or not Gregory came forth from his retire- 
ment for the purpose of adjusting this disagreement, or 
was already residing again in his native city — at all events 
he was there now, and had conferred a benefit upon it 
by his public services. This must have procured for 
him still higher respect and general affection. The whole 
community and his father (the latter especially) wished 
him to take a part in the spiritual care of the Church at 
Nazianzum. He himself declined it, partly out of fond- 
ness for contemplative retirement, partly from a holy 



1 Compare Orat. vi. 12, pp. 1/8 — 194. 



CHAP. V.] GREGORY MADE A PRESBYTER. 67 

awe for the hio*h and serious obligations which the sacred 
office imposes. On this occasion the following incident 
occurred, one that seems more remarkable to our gene- 
ration than it did at that time, when it not unfrequently 
happened. On a high festival (probably at Christmas, 
a.d. 361), the aged bishop, Gregory, came forward be- 
fore the assembled congregation (who seem to have been 
cognizant of his intention, or at all events were ready to 
support their bishop), 1 and ordained his son to the priest- 
hood, who did not anticipate such a proceeding, but 
could not resist the joint weight of paternal authority 
and episcopal power. 2 That the younger Gregory did 



1 The ancient commentator, Nicetas, takes this as a settled 
point, when he says, (vol. ii., p. 1091, Xazianzeni,) Theologum 
hortati fiierant, vel potius coriijjulerant, ut sacerdotinm susciperet, 
ipsosque pasceret. 

2 Such forced elections and ordinations were at that time of 
very ordinary occurrence. ' If worldly-minded men (says Xeander, 
in his Life of John Chrysostom, vol. II. p. 97) sought to obtain 
appointments in the chief cities by assuming for a time the mask 
of monastic sanctity, or by bribes and artful practices, so, on the 
contrary, men of pious minds were deterred therefrom by the 
mixture of the worldly and the spiritual elements in the Church, 
and could not, without a lengthened struggle, bring themselves to 
undertake the episcopal office.' Occasionally, the reluctance to 
accept an ecclesiastical appointment was indeed only assumed, 
and concealed a higher ambition; sometimes it was even the 
expression of a pride, for which the offered appointment was too 
insignificant. Every kind of information on this subject, with 
its usages and abuses, is to be found in Bingham's Eccles. Hist., iv. 
ch. 7, vol. II. p. 189 et seq. An election of this hasty, arbitrary, 
violent kind, generally proceeded from the people, as, among 
others, in the case of Augustine, which is given us by Possidius, 

in Tit. Augustin., cap. iv. : cum Augustinuni tenuerunt, et, 

ut in talibus consuetum est, episcopo ordinandum intulerunt, 
omnibus id uno consensu et desiderio fieri perficique petentibus, 
magnoque studio et clamore flagitantibus, ubertim eo flente. 
The only way in which a person could protect himself against 
such violence, was by a solemn vow made at the moment, that he 
would not allow himself to be ordained. See Basil, Mpist. Canon. 

F 2 



68 GREGORY HADE A PRESBYTER. [SECT. II. 

not shrink from the office in mere outward pretence, 
and from spiritual pride would only sutler himself to be 
forced into ecclesiastical duties, is proved sufficiently by 
his subsequent conduct. He declared, not only now at 
the time, but also on many following occasions, that the 
transaction was an act of spiritual tyranny. 1 and in his 
indignation thought he might allow himself to act on 

O CO 

the occasion in a way which, in some measure, opposed 
violence to violence. He withdrew himself, and fled to 
his friend Basil in Pontus (probably about the feast of 
Epiphany, a.d. 362). Here he had time to reflect, and 
probably soon perceived the precipitancy of his proceed- 
ings. In the quiet of retirement, the wishes of his 
parents and his countrymen might appeal the more 
urgently to his heart. 2 and the outward call forced upon 

ad AmphiXoch., cap. x. : Of o^rvorrsc u.i] KaTack\Eo;^ai ri]v 
XSipoToviaVj tZoin'i'UEi'oi. firj avayKaZkff^toffav i—looke'ii'. A 
series of examples of these compulsory ordinations (principally of 
the fourth and fifth centuries) are to be found in Bingham, loc. cit.. 
p. 1S9 et seq. Among them may be classed the instance (not 
mentioned by him) of Basil, who. as well as his friend Gregory, 
was ordained priest against his inclination. Gregor. Eplst. xi., 
al. 15. p. 775. We may here be allowed to call to mind Scotland's 
noble-minded, pious, energetic reformer. John Knox, in whose 
case this custom of christian antiquity was repeated, when he 
showed himself as scrupulous and conscientious as any of the 
most pious individuals of the earlier centuries. See Thomas 
M'Crie's Life of John Knox, in Planck\s edition, pp. 7*3 — 50. 
1 Cannon do Vita sua. 1. 345 : 

Oc7lo jar ovv 'i]\y7]ca ry rvgavnci — 
Oi'-uj *,ag dWaic rovr' oroj-idltir ur%vft», 
Ken uol to Beiov rrnvjia trw\ fivtaGKkna 
Ovrtoc lyovru 
Gregory wrote this some ten years after the circumstance, and 
therefore no longer in the passionate excitement of the first 
moment. 

- When Gregory, surnamed Presbyter, in his biography of -our 
Gregory, introduces, as co-operating for this purpose^ distinct 
hortatory epistles of the aged father, (o ce. rra-i)o .... krr lvtoXciiq 
I ~ v<ju)7n]7LKule tov TpiiyopiQv ttsl^el ttooq T/jp iwdvoSov' 6 ?i 



CHAP. V.] GREGORY MADE A PRESBYTER. 69 

Lira by his father might also become a living, inward 
voice. Towards Easter 1 of the same year he returned 
to Xazianzum, and on that festival delivered his first 
Oration 2 in his new ecclesiastical character. 

He commenced with these words : c The day of the 
Besurrection, a happy commencement ! let us mutually 
enlighten, let us embrace one another on this great 
festival. Let us address as i brethren' even, those who 
hate us, how much more those who, out of love, have 
done or suffered anything (of violence); let us forget it 
all, on this our Lord's resurrection-day. Pledge we 
mutual forgiveness; I, who in an honourable manner 
was tyrannically treated (for even now I so consider it), 
and you, who in so honourable a manner exercised that 
tyranny over me. If you had reason to blame me for 
hanging back, still it might have been better and more 
praiseworthy in the sight of God than the over-haste of 
others. It has its merit, to hold oneself back awhile at 
the call of God, as in old time we see in Moses, and 
subsequently in Jeremiah; and it also has its merit, to 



(poQepbv Koivac 7rapaicoi)v warpae, ko.I lepewc, kcli Trpzcfivrov, 
s7rdvsi(Ti — ) all this, as well as much else in this almost exclu- 
sively panegyric biography, may have had no solid foundation. 
Gregory himself, in his Carmen de Vit. sua, line 361, p. 6, says only : 

avhiQ sq flvSrbv rpsxw. 



Asieag (rrevayfibv TiarpiKwv klviih&twv (al. fX7]vijidrujv). 

1 Gregory says, Orat. I. 2, p. 4 : Nvcrrrjpiov e XP L(T£ M £ > [ivffTTjplq* 
fxiKpbv V7rex<jjpr]aa .... iivcrrrjplcij icai auvEicrepxoiiaL, TYe cannot 
more suitably explain these expressions than by referring them 
to Christmas, Epiphany, and Easter. [NIcetas in like manner 
says, in his commentary on this passage (vol. ii. p. 1093), In die 
festo sacerdos factus sum, fortasse Xatalis Christi, et in festo die 
secessi, Luminum fortasse, et in festo die redii, Paschatis scilicet. 

2 The first oration in the edition of the Benedictines, who with 
good reason thus place it, though it is elsewhere reckoned as the 
fourth. 



70 GREGORY MADE A PRESBYTER. [SECT. II. 

come forward readily and willingly, when God calleth, 
as did Aaron and Isaiah. Only, both must be done in a 
dutiful spirit; the former in a sense of indwelling 
weakness, the latter, in a confident reliance on the strength 
of Him who callethS 

The conduct of Gregory in the instance above related 
has been highly approved by many, and by many also, 
with more or less severity, blamed. It has received un- 
qualified commendation from those who looked upon 
Gregory only through the halo-medium of the Saint, 
and therefore acknowledged all his proceedings as 
canonical ; it has been followed with unqualified censure 
from those who, out of mere opposition, have exaggerated 
even the weaknesses of this and of other holy men into 
crying sins. They have found therein mere folly, con- 
tempt of the priestly office, haughtiness, and a pride 
which, by stepping over the presbyterate, would fain 
mount up to the episcopate. 1 Such and similar judg- 
ments were passed even in Gregory's time. He found 
himself, therefore, obliged to throw a clearer light (in 
the form of a fuller apologetic statement) 2 upon his 



1 The same charge was also made against S. Augustine when 
with tears he resisted his ordination to the presbyterate : Xon- 
nnllis quidem lacrynias ejus, tit nobis ipse retulit. time superbe 
interpretantibus, et tanquam eum eonsolantibus ae dicentibus, 
quia et locus presbyterii, licet ipse majore dignns esset, appro- 
pinquaret tamen episcopatni. Possid. in Vit. Augustin.. cap. iv. 

2 This statement, called airoXoyriTiKbc ri)c etc rbv wovro-p 
<bvyr\c k. r. X., is printed in the Benedictine edition as the second 
Oration : but, as it is clear from the first glance, it is too long 
(reaching, as it does, from p. 11 to p. 65) to have been spoken, 
at least in that form. Gregory probably delivered only that 
part which is properly apologetic, and afterwards worked it up 
with additions, so that it became the diffuse treatise which now 
lies before us, and consists principally of Gregory's views con- 
cerning the clerical order in general. The same view of this 
apology of Gregory's was also entertained by Elias of Crete. 



CHAP. V.] GREGORY MADE A PRESBYTER. 71 

conduct^ and the motives which led to it. It is not a 
superfluous labour to bring forward from thence the 
points of greatest weight, and thus to listen, as it were, 
to the man himself instead of his zealous eulogists on 
the one side, or his severe censurers on the other. 

Gregory, then, certainly confesses that it was a mixture 
of refractoriness and pusillanimity (a-daic koX okiyo-^vyla) 
which caused his flight. He remarks, however, at the 
same time, that he did not take that step without thought 
or meaning, like an inexperienced boy, but from a con- 
viction that he did not thereby transgress any divine law 
or ordinance. The grounds on which he had been 
induced to disobey his father were the following : — In 
the first place, the whole proceeding had so taken him 
by surprise, that, like thunder-stricken men, he lost 
almost all recollection. In the next place, an indefinite 
longing just then seized him for the beautiful life of still 
retirement, which in his early days he had so passionately 
loved, and which, in one of the most critical moments 
of his life (i. e., during the storm on his voyage to 
Athens), he had solemnly promised to God. To these 
reasons was added one, respecting whose validity and 
purity Gregory himself seems to doubt — the bad con- 
dition of the clergy was so painful to him, that he could 
with difficulty make up his mind to enrol himself with 
such unworthy associates. C I was ashamed,' he says, 
'of many, who not at all better than the rest of the 
people (nay, good were it if they were not worse), ob- 
truded themselves into the most holy duties and places, 
with unwashen hands and unconsecrated hearts, and ere 
they were worthy only to assist in holy celebrations, them- 
selves conducted the business of the altar. Alas ! there 
are already so many of these uncalled rulers in the Church, 



72 GREGORY MADE A PRESBYTER. [SECT. II. 

that they almost exceed the number of the flock to be 
ruled over.' To the last and (as Gregory solemnly 
asserts) the most weighty reason for his flight, no one, 
assuredly, will refuse his full approbation. It is excel- 
lently expressed in his own simple words : ' I considered 
not myself worthy (nor do I now so consider myself) to 
preside as shepherd over a flock, and to undertake the 
responsibility of guiding the souls of men.' In order to 
show this, he lays open at great length the qualifications 
which may justly be required in the truly clerical character. 

These, then, are his reasons. If we allow no definite 
weight to the first, as being only a transient feeling, nor 
grant anything to the second, as a false impression; 
nay, should we even discover in the third reason some 
degree of spiritual pride (since no man is permitted to 
withdraw himself from a post of honour, because he 
reckons on finding there a great number, or even a 
majority of unworthy associates, but rather is so much 
the more bound to restore the sullied honour of the 
station), yet certainly in the last we cannot fail to 
recognise a state of mind truly worthy of respect. And 
since Gregory is so honest as to confess his weakness, 
so should we be so just as to believe his solemn as- 
surance, that the consciousness of his insufficiency and 
unworthiness was his most weighty inducement. We 
shall thus, if not approve the step he took, at least 
excuse it, and pay deserved honour to what was generous 
in it. 

In the same apologetical treatise, Gregory also specifies 
the considerations which had induced him to return home, 
and undertake the duties of the presbyterate which had 
been forced upon him. They are as follows : a yearning 
affection for the Church of Nazianzum, with the feeling 
that he was beloved by its members, and earnestly 



CHAP. V.] GREGORY MADE A PRESBYTER. 73 

wished for to be its spiritual guide; anxiety for his aged 
parents, who would be bowed down more by his absence 
than by their advanced age; but especially the example 
of holy men of ancient times, whose lives he looked 
upon as an influential source of counsel 1 and earnest 
warning for his own conduct. 

Scarcely had Gregory entered upon his office, when he 
had to experience the fickleness of human applause. 
The ardent desire of the Xazianzen community for his 
ministration was no sooner gratified, than their love 
already began to cool. His sermons were but thinly 
attended, and he thought he observed, in general, a 
certain indifference to his person. He took occasion, in 
a particular discourse, to express his wonder and dis- 
satisfaction thereat, though he did this with mildness 
and skilfully-mingled praise.* 2 In this discourse he 
enlarges, in especial reference to himself, upon the 
maxim that, with men in general, an object is only valued 
kio'hlv while it is still to be striven for, while its extorted 
possession is but slightly esteemed. 



1 Gregory assigns still another reason in an epistle to Basil. 
For he also, somewhat later (probably in a.d. 363 or 364), was 
ordained priest against his will. It is in allusion to this that 
Gregory writes thus to him (Epist. ix., al. 15, p. 5J5 et seq.) : 
1 Thou art taken captive, as I was, who write this to thee : we 
have both been forced to receive the honour of the presbyterate, 
for we certainly did not seek for it. TTe are mutually credible 
witnesses (more than any one else could be) that we love the 
meek and humble form of christian philosophy. Perhaps it were 
better had this never happened, or, at least (though I know not 
how to say it), until I had recognised the call and ordering of the 
Holy Spirit. But, since it has taken place, we must, as it seems 
to me, bear with it, especially on account of the present time, which 
produces so many false teachers ; and also not to disappoint the 
hopes of those who place confidence in us, or disgrace the promise of 
our own earlier life. 

2 The Third Oration, p. 69 et seq., in the Benedictine edition. 
Upbg roi'Q KaXkoavrac kul (jli) a.7ravTi]aavTaQ. 



74 RELATION OF CHRISTIANITY TO [.SECT. II. 



CHAPTER VI 

CONCERNING JULIAN GENERALLY, AND IN RELATION TO GREGORY 
IN PARTICULAR. 

(a.) Relation of Christianity to Heathenism in Julian's Reign ; 
his Aversion to Christianity. 

"We are induced to turn our view from this more 
limited scene of Gregory's ministrations to a wider 
theatre — the Eoman empire and its imperial throne, to 
which (in November, a.d. 361) there succeeded a man 
who played too striking a part in the history of religion, 
and stood in too marked a relation to Gregory of 
Nazianzuni, for us not to devote to him a somewhat 
fuller consideration. It was Julian, who now, with a 
bold and vigorous hand, seized the reins of government 
over the Eoman world in a spirit which threatened the 
greatest danger to Christianity, while he sought to 
give a new direction to the religious development of 
mankind. 

Through the well-timed conversion of Constantine to 
Christianity, the victory of the christian cause in the 
Eoman empire seemed fully decided, as it were, from 
the throne. But after a contest (and often a bloody 
one) of three hundred years, and fifty years of triumph, 
the christian Church was threatened with still greater 
danger. Under the outward show of toleration, weapons 
more dangerous than the fire and the sword were 
employed against her by a prince of great abilities. 

The state of things was not, indeed, favourable to 
Julian's undertaking. The number of Christians had 
considerably increased in an interval of about fifty years, 
during which Christianity was decidedly favoured by the 



CHAP. VI.] HEATHENISM IN JULIAN'S EEIGN. 75 

throne and court. 1 In the more civilized provinces of 
the empire, and in the large cities of Koine, Constan- 
tinople, Alexandria, and Antioch, there was a majority 
of Christians ; and the example of the Emperor and of 
the chief Generals must have had a decided influence 
upon the legions. At the commencement of Julian's 
reign, the Christians were far superior to the non- 
Christians, if not in actual number, yet in a widely- 
spread, well-grounded power. There existed among 
them generally both a higher degree of religious know- 
ledge, and a more active zeal for their faith, than among 
the heathen. That knowledge was, indeed, clouded by 
a mass of superstition, and by a dogmatizing spirit of 
contention — and that zeal was considerably cooled 
by the acquisition of victory and undisturbed posses- 



1 It seems a fruitless labour to try to find out the number of 
Christians in proportion to that of the heathens in the reign of 
Julian with any exactness ; just as the learned investigations and 
skilful conjectures (of Gibbon, e. g., and others) respecting the 
number of Christians in the first year of Constantine's government 
could lead to no satisfactory results, because all the assumptions 
rest upon merely special, local, and temporary relations, from 
which, on such a subject, no valid general conclusions can be 
drawn. Certainly the christian population, in the first years of 
Constant ine, cannot have been so small as, e.g., Osiander assumes 
it to have been (see his Essay in Staublin's and Tzschirner's 
Archives, vol. iv. part 2), because this emperor experienced, at 
least, no hindrance on that ground to his political plans, when 
he declared himself in favour of Christianity. Nor, on the other 
hand, can we assume the number of Christians to have been so 
absolutely predominant at the beginning of Julian's reign ; be- 
cause this prince (though a visionary enthusiast in the cause of 
heathenism, yet not devoid of sense) could still conceive the 
thought of making heathenism again predominant ; and also 
because, even after Julian's fall, heathenism still maintained 
itself for a long while within the Roman empire. It is not, 
however, to be overlooked that, in such matters, success depends 
not so much on the outward show of numbers, as on the inward, 
deep-seated strength of a religious community. 



76 RELATION OF CHRISTIANITY TO [SECT. II. 

sion. 1 But it was involved in the nature of the case, that 
even under these circumstances the christian religion 
should be able to convey (as it did actually convey) to its 
professors a purer, firmer, and more satisfactory con- 
viction than that of the heathen could possibly do. 
Christianity contained in it the germs of a new religious 
and intellectual education of the world; heathenism 
was dead at the roots, and could only be sustained by 
artificial exertions ; this is shown with convincing clear- 
ness by detached incidents in Julian's life. With all 
the power of an emperor, and all the zeal of a devoted 
priest, he was not once able to awaken among his 
subjects even the appearance of an interest in the old 
religion. At Antioch, on occasion of the annual feast 
of the once -celebrated Daphnian Apollo, which he 
thought to celebrate with great splendour, not an 
individual of the neighbourhood presented himself with 
a victim, except a single priest with the offering of a 
goose. Julian might, on such an occasion, have seen 
what was really the temper of the times. (See Julian's 
Misopogon, p. 362. edit. Spanhem.) 

Christianity, which at first presented itself as the 
simple religion of the people, had, in the course of the 
last centuries, developed the elements which it contained 
for the cultivation of theological science. After the 
Apologists had given the first impulse, the teachers of 
the Alexandrian, and then of the Antiochian school, 
laid the foundation of a christian scientific system; 



1 Gregory Nazianzen does not fail to remark, how much better 
the Christians in general were during the persecutions than 
afterwards in times of prosperity and victory. Orat. iv. 32, p. 92 : 
7)v iv toIq diujyfiolg icai raig SXiipeai awsXe^afxeBa 66%av K'ai 
Cvva/JLLV, Tavrrjv tv irpdrrovTsg KareXvaafxtv. 



CHAP. VI.] HEATHENISM IX JULIAX's REIGN. 77 

and even in this respect, niany professors of Christianity 
could now compete with learned heathens. 1 It is, more- 
over, not to be forgotten, that Christianity had already 
penetrated into all the relations of life, and was firmly 
rooted in society. The Church, with its clergy and 
(ever since Constantine) its growing and important 
possessions, already took its place as an influential 
politico-spiritual power, and everything in public, as 
well as in private life, from the imperial banner to the 
signet-ring of a citizen, had taken a christian impression. 
We may therefore, taking all the circumstances to- 
gether, assert that Christianity, by its internal and out- 
ward power, by the number of its professors, by the 
adoption of a higher tone of cultivation, and its 
admission into all the business of life, had established 
itself in the most influential portions of the Eoman 
empire. 

Tlie enterprise of Julian to place heathenism again in 
the ascendant, was therefore a political as icell as a 
religious revolution, which was to take effect by altering 
all the relations of external and of intellectual and 
spiritual life; a revolution which must needs be of the 
greatest difficulty, and of the most doubtful con- 
sequences, in the pursuit of which Julian, sooner or 
later, would probably have come to ruin, even if he had 
not found an early death in the Persian war. In this 



1 The heathens, however, still maintained herein a certain 
superiority. The most celebrated Sophists, or teachers of phi- 
losophy and rhetoric (such as Libanius, Himerius, Theniistius, and 
others), were heathens ; and if christian youths wished to acquire 
a completely scientific education, and especially to become them- 
selves future orators and rhetoricians, they always attended the 
heathen schools at Alexandria, Athens, or Antioch. 



78 HIS AVERSION TO CHRISTIANITY. [SECT. II. 

sense the attempt of Julian was already, in his own 
time, looked upon as a revolutionary enterprise. The 
people of Antioch reproached him with intending to 
bring about a total change in the relations of society; 1 
and Gregory of Xazianzum speaks still more plainly. 2 
c That clever man (Julian) did not remark that, in the 
earlier persecutions, the confusion and agitation were 
not so great, because at that time our religion had not 
spread so widely; but now, when the word of salvation 
had spread so far, and even become predominant amongst 
us, the attempt to interfere with the christian religion, 
and to shake its hold upon men's minds, was nothing 
less than a shaking of the foundations of tlie Roman 
empire, and an attack upon the welfare of the State; 
something, in short, so bad, that our bitterest enemy 
could wish us nothing worse.' 3 

It was not state policy which moved Julian to 
attempt this revolution, for that would have urged him 
to carry on and improve the work which Constantine 
began, not to destroy it; the real motive lay in jliat 
aversion to the christian faith and its professors (both 
being misapprehended by him), and that ardent zeal for 
the old religion, which both sprung up very naturally 



1 Misopogon, p. 360 : on Trap' tjiov ra rov Kocfioit Trgayfiara 
avarsTpaTTTai. 

2 Or at. iv. T4 and Jo, p. 113. 

3 All the benefits which Julian's government effected in other 
respects were disregarded by Gregory, who looked only to the 
harm resulting from a general religious disruption, which operated 
in favour of heathenism. ' The commotion in the provinces and 
cities (he says, Orat. iv. 75, p. 113), the division in families, the 
disputes in our houses, the separations of marriage-ties ^all which 
could not but follow, and have actually followed this great evil) — 
have they contributed to his (Julian's) reputation, and to the 
well-being of the State ? ' 



CHAP. VI.] HIS AVERSION TO CHRISTIANITY. 79 

from his early education. 1 The religion which Con- 
stantius, the murderer of his family, professed, and which 
he endeavoured to impress upon him by means of 
ecclesiastics, in whom he could place no confidence, 
could not but be an object of suspicion and dislike to 
him. He saw in Christianity 2 only an unhappy per- 
version of Judaism, 3 and could not explain the contra- 
dictions which the christian records seemed to contain 
in relation to the Jewish, to say nothing of many sup- 
posed absurdities he attributed to the latter. He could 
not comprehend the feeling of reverence with which 
Christians regarded that Jesus, who (as it seemed to 
him) had done nothing worth mentioning during his 
lifetime, except healing a few lame and blind persons, 
and bringing some of the common people to believe in 
him. 4 It appeared to him an incomprehensible delusion, 



1 It cannot be my object here to give a complete delineation of 
Julian in the development of his character and his mode of 
thought. This would not only lie out of my path, but would also 
be superfluous, since (besides the labours of many other good men) 
Neander's excellent Life and Character of Julian has been much 
read, and will soon (by means of a second edition, about to appear) 
be still more generally circulated. I could not, however, avoid 
saying something on the subject, particularly as to the conduct of 
Julian towards Christianity, because a correct view thereof is 
necessary for a right estimate of the character of Gregory 
Nazianzen. 

2 Julian, as it is well known, wrote down his views of Chris- 
tianity in distinct treatises, while reposing, in the long nights of 
winter, from the cares of government (Liban. iiriTCHp. sttl JovXiav. 
p. 581, Reisk). Only fragments of these books have been trans- 
mitted to us, in the Refutation of them by Cyril of Alexandria 
(Juliani Opera, ed. Ezech. Spanheim ; Lips. 1696). Would that we 
had Julian's entire work, instead of Cyril's copious refutations ! 
I restrain myself also (strongly as I feel allured to the task) 
from giving an account of Julian's view of Christianity, and this 
for the reason above given. 

3 Cyrill. adv. Julian., lib. i. p. 6, and lib. vii. p. 238. 

4 Ibid., vi. pp. 191, 213. 



80 HIS AVERSION TO CHRISTIANITY. [SECT. II. 

that the Christians turned away from the immortal gods 
to the worship of a deceased Jew ; that they would not 
adore the sun and moon, which so manifestly wrought 
for them the highest benefits from year to year, while they 
considered as a God that Jesus whom neither they nor 
their fathers had seen. 1 It is quite intelligible how 
Julian could thus misapprehend the divinity of Jesus in 
his humble appearance ; and we hope that we do him 
no injustice when we think that the cause thereof is to 
be found in the fundamental defect of his nature — viz., 
his pride and philosophic arrogance. Julian had accus- 
tomed himself too much to the bright and powerful 
forms of the ancient heroes to attach any value to the 
divine claims of Christ, concealed as they were under 
the simple ( form of a servant,' and of suffering humility. 
He was too much enamoured by wisdom in the form of 
speculation, and too much dazzled by the mystic glitter 
of his favourite rhetorical philosophers, for his under- 
standing to receive the popular teaching of the Gospel, 
which seemed to him to present itself in the unpretend- 
ing garb of a child-like and unadorned phraseology. 
Julian knew nothing of that state of mind, that lowly 
and affectionate devotedness, which Christ everywhere 
requires, if we would receive him as the Divine Author 
of our salvation. Full of energy and activity, he wished 
to emulate his celebrated heroes; full of wisdom, he 
imitated his contemplative philosophers, and turned his 
back contemptuously upon the Divine Sufferer, and the 
cross on which he suffered. His lively imagination, and 
his admiration of antiquity, attracted him powerfully to 



1 Julian, epist. 51, ad. Alexandrinos, p. 432. Cyrill. adv. 
Julian., lib. vi. p. 194. 



CHAP. VI.] HIS AVERSION TO CHRISTIANITY. 81 

those gods, by whose protection those heroes, whom he 
in vain looked for among the Christian emperors, had 
fought and conquered. He believed that he also had 
been delivered by the favour of the gods from all the 
dangers with which the jealousy of Constantius had 
threatened him ; that by their means he had been raised 
from the quiet scenes of private life, and from banish- 
ment, to the imperial throne. ' Should he not then 
adore these mighty, these beneficent gods ? Should he 
not show himself thankful to them, by extending the 
sphere of their worship ¥ 

(h.) Julians Conduct towards Christianity and its 
Professors, 

It is well known what Julian did, in order to make 
the old religion again predominant, and to overturn the 
new; it may be permitted me, nevertheless, to give here 
a short, connected review thereof, in order that we may 
afterwards estimate more justly the judgment passed by 
Gregory on this conduct. 

Julian, although in many of his proceedings we cannot 
fail to perceive a kind of political fanaticism, 1 engaged 



1 Julian's political conduct was entirely grounded upon his 
religious convictions. He entertained a very exalted idea of a 
genuine ruler, and firmly believed 'that government is something 
which surpasses human powers — something for which a godlike 
nature is required.' Orat. ad Themist. Philosoph., p. 253 — 267, 
in several passages. In difficult circumstances, therefore, he 
betook himself to the counsel and assistance of the gods. He 
wished to ascertain and follow their wishes. The way, however, 
in which he thought to learn their will had somewhat of fana- 
ticism in it. He believed in their actual appearance — in real 
contact and immediate communications with the gods. What a 
field was here opened for the arts of the magic and theurgic 
priests and philosophers who surrounded him ! 



82 JULIAN'S CONDUCT TOWARDS [SECT. II. 

with consummate skill in the unequal contest with 
Christianity, favoured as it was by the age in which he 
lived. History had taught him that open warfare 
strengthens the persecuted party, and that the blood of 
martyrs was but the seed of new confessors. He hated 
martyrdom, 1 and would not allow the christian Church 
the honour and the advantage of it. His plan, therefore, 
proceeded upon a gradual undermining \ he applied per- 
secution, but it was under the show of mildness and 
moderation ; he subjugated gently.- His writings, 
epistles, and decrees, contain the most open declarations 
of an universal toleration for the Christians ; he only 
commiserates them, and wishes not to punish them for 
their ignorance, but instructs and teaches them. N"o 
young person was to be restrained from attending the 
schools and churches of the * Galileans ;' no one should 
be constrained to adopt the old religion through fear or 
force. 3 In similar terms of toleration he expressed him- 
self towards the different parties in Christianity. The 
clergy who had been banished on account of religious 
opinions now dared, without distinction, to return; 
always excepting one, who was hated by him to the 
death — Athanasius ! 4 

This show of toleration, however, was not so honestly 
intended. Julian had no reason for giving a preference 



1 Julian. Fragment. Orationis Epktolczve cujvsd... p. 288. This 
mutilated treatise probably contained many characteristic obser- 
vations of Julian concerning Christianity and Christians. 

2 Gregor. Orat. iv. 79, p. 116. He says very strikingly of 
Julian, s-uiKujg kpid&ro. Compare § 69, p. 129, of this same 
Oration. 

3 Epist. 42, p. 129. 

4 Julian. Edict, ad Alexandr., Epist. 26, p. 398; and parti- 
cularly, Epist. ad Alexandr. 51, p. 432, and Epist. 6, p. 376. 



CHAP. VI.] CHRISTIANITY AND ITS PROFESSORS. 83 

to one party among the Christians rather than another. 
He allowed them to exist in mutual opposition, in order 
that they might injure one another, and stain still deeper 
the christian name on the angry theatre of religious 
controversy. He even occasionally, out of mere con- 
tempt, procured for himself the amusement of causing 
the leaders of the christian parties to hold disputes in 
his presence. 1 In general, he by no means placed the 
Christians on a par with the heathens, in spite of the 
principles which he professed. He not only preferred 
the latter in his public appointments, but favoured 
them almost exclusively. 2 He punished most severely 
any acts of turbulence on the part of the Christians; 



1 Ammian. Marcellin., xxii. 5. "When they were in the heat of 
their dispute, he would call out to them : • Listen now to me, 
whom even the Alemanni and Franks have listened to ! ' 

2 Julian. Epigt. 7, adArtab., p. 376. Gregor. Orat. iv. 96, p. 129. 
Sozomen. Hist. Fecks, v. IS. Liban. Epitaph., p. oQi. Julian 
by no means deserved that gratitude which he fancied himself 
entitled to for his tolerating all parties among the Christians. 
Epist. 52, ad Bostrenos, p. -±35. It may certainly be maintained 
that Julian was a persecutor of Christianity rather than of Chris- 
tians ; since he did not proceed so far as to destroy Christians 
personally, but endeavoured, by cleverly-applied pressure, and 
other means, to win them over to heathenism, and thus to over- 
turn Christianity by withdrawing its professors from it. (Compare 
C. F. Wigger's dissertation, I)e Juliano Apostata Rdigionis Chris- 
tiaiUE et Christianorum Persecutore. Rostoch. 1810.) But, on this 
point, we must take into consideration that Julian could not, 
properly speaking, ever be a persecutor of Christians, because ex- 
ternal means for that purpose were wanting to him against the pre- 
ponderating power of the christian party. The assertion that 
Julian, from being a persecutor of the christian religion, would 
subsequently become a persecutor of its professors, will scarcely 
admit of being noticed with historical certainty, since Julian 
governed for so short a time. It is not, however, improbable 
that things would have taken this turn, when Julian had become 
more embittered by the opposition which, in the end, he would 
certainly have met with, and the heathen party had again 
obtained greater power. 

G 2 



v 4: JULIANS CONDUCT TOWARDS [SECT. II. 

but heathen?, as well magistrates as the : Mnm m people. 
who indulged themselves in any act of injustice or 

violence towards the Christians, were treated by him 
far more mildly — nay. even with favour. 3 This severity 
of behaviour on the part of Julian towards the Christians 
was often also accompanied with bitter mockery. VThen 
the Allans in the neighbourhood of Edessa. who were 
very rich, fell into contentions with the Yalentinians of 
those part-, he caused the general treasure of the Church 
of Edessa to be taken away and distributed among his 
soldiers, and their estates to be incorporated with his 
own property. It was his wish (he said . since they 
were often using that admirable saying. •' it is a hard 
thing for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of 
heaven.' to facilitate to them thereby th : : nee into 

heaven. 2 

Julian frequently indulged himself in similar sarcasms 
concerning ; the credulous disciples of ignore:.: nskerrnen. 
who sat and prayed all night in company with old women, 
and were always faint and half-dead with fasting.' 3 Of 
course, this public derision of a part of his subjects on 
the part of a supreme ruler must have carried with it a 



1 This, to quote only one example on that side, is sufficiently 
proved by the manner in which Julian spares the heathens of 
Alexandria, who had murdered the bishop, Georgius — while he 
treats with severity the Christians of Antioch, for having set on 
fire the temple of the Daphnian Apollo. See, on this subject, 
the heathen writer Ammian. Maroehin.. zoxii. 11. 13. A :>■->. 
Sozomen.. v. 3 : and Gregor. Naz. Or at. iv, 93. p. 1'27. 

2 Julian. Epist. 43, ad B-.:d.: 7 .. p, -2i. The same story, 
though told probably with exa^'erati:::. is found in Sozom.. v. 
4. o. S. It is the^same _sort of in;uv which is attributed to 
Dionvsius. the plunderer of temples. Cicer: d-: 2\at. I)io:\ iii. 3-, 

■ Gxegor. ut. v. 25 p. 163. Pot other instances of ironical 



CHAP. VI.] CHRISTIANITY AXD ITS PROFESSORS. 85 

fearful force. The least insidious and (legally speaking) 
the least objectionable; though most dangerous means 
whereby Julian sought to injure Christianity, was the 
transfer of those regulations, which had particularly dis- 
tinguished the christian Church, into heathenism. He 
wished to make the old religion popular by reforming 
its institutions. He began, therefore, at the roots — i.e., 
by improving the priestly profession,* to which he wished 
to give more real efficiency and greater respectability. 
He himself set the example, as the chief pontiff. He 
ordered that the professors of heathenism should show 
the same regard to the burial of the dead, the same hos- 
pitality towards strangers, the same active benevolence 
to the poor, as that by which the Christians had made 
themselves so beloved. 1 With this object, Julian gave 
directions for the erection of poor-houses and lodging- 
houses for strangers, and assigned considerable sums for 
that purpose. 2 He also adopted for the heathen religion 
that plan of popular instruction 3 which had wrought 



* In an Appendix to the dogmatic part (not given in this 
volume), what Julian and Gregory require of the ministers of the 
rival religions is placed in juxtaposition. — Translator. 

1 Julian makes it a special charge against christian women, 
that by their active benevolence they attracted many to join 
their sect. Misopogon, p. 363. In general, he is not at all inclined 
to say anything good of the christian women (see Misopogon, 
p. 356), whose virtue compelled even Libanius, on one occasion, 
to exclaim — ' What women have those Christians ! ' 

2 These lodging-houses, ZtvoSox&a, were instituted in every 
city for the needy traveller, without distinction of religion. For 
the province of G-alatia, Julian assigns for this object 30,000 
measures of corn. — Epist. 49, ad Ursacium, pontiff of Galatia, 
p. 429. He moreover invites all the heathen to voluntary con- 
tributions, and tries to rouse them to a sense of shame by quoting 
the example of the Christians. 

3 Sozom., v. 16. AuvotiTO Tcavrayj) rove eWtjviicovq vaovg rrj 
irapaGKivy Kal ry rd^u ti]q XpiGTiavutv SprjaiceiaQ ciaKooyaXv, 



86 julian's conduct towards [sect. ii. 

such great things for Christianity, and endeavoured, 
above all. to impart more life, dignity, and splendour to 
divine worship. For this last purpose, he made especial 
use of the effects of sacred music, which he particularly 
attended to and valued. 1 

Julian well knew how important it is that religion 
should exercise an influence upon social life, and also be 
placed in connexion with the institutions of the state. 
The heathen religion had. under the last emperors, been 
made to give way in this respect to the christian : he 
now sought to restore that relation. Every christian 
emblem was obliterated on the public insignia ; the Im- 
perial banner was again altered, and resumed its old 
Roman form and shape. 2 (Sozom. v. 17.) Julian sur- 



f3i]/jia(7L re kcli Trpotcplaic. kcu tXXfjvuciov coyfianoi' koli Trnpcti* 
vkanav CLCa(TKa\oLC Tt tcai avayruGTciic. He farther founded 
(according to Sozonien) heathen convent? for men and women — 
a proof how greatly the entire spirit of the age had inclined to 
monastic life ! He imitated, also, the circulation of the so-called 
■ Uteres formatcB; 9 * he introduced a kind of penitential discipline, 
in imitation of the christian Church, but of a milder kind (as 
might be expected from his prudence), and himself, as Pontifex 
Maxhnus, exercised the right of imposing a ban or interdiction. 
See Julian. Epist. 62. p. 451 : Eyw roivw 'c-tici'i-so ei/ii ko-o. 
fikv ra TTciTpia }xkyac apxitpsvc. tXaxov cs vvv Effi rev Aidvpaiov 
7rpo(pj]TEvtLv, array ooei'uj aot rofic tzsolocgvc GiX-qvyc pq roi tluv 
tic lepsa fi7]ckv evoxXeiv, k. t. \. 

1 Julian. Fragment., p. 301. Epist. 56. ad Ecdic. p. 442. He 
gave orders at Alexandria for the education of talented boys for 
the public performance of temple-singing. To good singers he 
opened the best prospects. Church music is still the great point 
where so much might be done for the improvement of the Pro- 
testant worship. "Would that the efforts thus made by Julian 
for his faith, might find more imitators among Christians/ 
2 Christus purpureum gem m and textus in auro 
Signabat I alarum : clypeorwm insignia Ckristus 
Scripserat : ardebat suramis crux addita oris: is. 

Pbudenteds. 



* Circulars by which remote churches corresponded with each other, and 
insured hospitality to the bearers of them on their respective journeys. — 
Translator. 



CHAP. VI.] CHRISTIANITY AXD ITS PROFESSORS. 87 

rounded his own statue, set up for public homage, with 
figures of the godsj and whosoever then testified his 
mark of respect for the same (and this was not unfre- 
quently performed on festive occasions) was at the same 
time forced to bow his head before the images of the 
gods that surrounded the statue. 1 Nor is Julian to be 
pronounced free from a treacherous zeal for proselytizing. 
It must, of course, have been most important to him to 
gain over the army to his faith, and he made use of the 
following method for effecting it. On the general pay- 
day, the emperor presented himself, surrounded with the 
insignia of government and the figures of the gods. The 
soldiers passed by him in succession; before them lay 
gold and incense. If now, being Christians, they could 
yet make up their mind to cast incense on the altar-fire, 
and thus pay worship to the gods, they were recompensed 
with a look of favour from the monarch, and consoled 
with more liberal pay. 2 In this manner many bartered 
away their religion. 

What has hitherto been remarked was rather a favour- 
ing of heathenism than a persecuting of Christianity. 
But we also find an ordinance of Julian, which may be 
considered as a more direct attack on Christianity ; it 



3 We have this, indeed, only from christian authority, but it 
is in itself not improbable. Gregor. Naz. Orat. iv. 81, p. 117. 
Sozom. v. 17. Julian generally had Zeus represented near him- 
self, as the god who gave him the crown and the purple ; or 
Mars and Mercury, who, by their approving look, bore testimony 
to his warlike valour and his distinguished eloquence. 

2 This fact also rests only on christian evidence. Sozom. iii. 17. 
Gregor. Naz. Orat. iv. 82 — 85, pp. 117 — 120. Gregory, how- 
ever, gives very particular details and anecdotes in direct refer- 
ence to this conduct of Julian ; and we see in Julian, even from 
his own writings, and those of his heathen admirers, a man of so 
much artful skill in his antagonism to the Christians, that in 
company with so much that was great in his character, we must 
also charge him with much of paltry artifice. 



88 Julian's conduct towards [sect. ii. 

has, however, been differently judged of, so that we must 
be permitted to speak of it somewhat more fully. It 
was the arrangement by which he is said to have for- 
bidden Christians to engage in the study of any science 
not properly christian — a prohibition whereby all the 
advantages of a classical education would have been 
withdrawn from the Christians. The philosophic em- 
peror despised the plain and (in the best sense of the 
word) simple writings of the Old and Xew Testament, 
in comparison with the profound and beautiful produc- 
tions of Grecian genius. 1 

He thought, c that the works of antiquity, animated 
as they were with a high patriotic spirit, and clothed in 
the most perfect forms of language, could alone commu- 
nicate pure and true wisdom ; whilst the writings of the 
Christians could have no power to produce any such 
effects. 2 And as the Christians thought those works to 
have proceeded from Satan himself, or from Satan's 
agents, he did not choose that they should feast upon 2, 
the writings and sciences of the Greeks, but remain 
satisfied with only the miserable books to which they 
attributed such high value.' He therefore believed that 
he was fully justified in withholding altogether from the 
Christians those writings which they did not take in 
hand with due reverence and affection. It is not, in- 
deed, to be denied (though it may be well accounted for 



1 Cyrill. contra Julian., vii. p. 229. 

2 'AXX "lote tcai vfietg, wc EfJ.oi dalrsTai, to ciddopov etc 
(Tvveaiv tCjv Trap' vfiiv .... ovc' dp ykvoiro ytvvaioc dv;)o 
fxaXkov ovle sttlslk^q' etc cs twp Tragi* fjfJLiv, clvtoq avrov ttclq dv 
ykvoLTo KaXKitJV, el Kal irav-d—aGiv d(pvi)c tic eii], 

3 Tov x a 9 LV *7***£ ruv Trap'' "EWijcn TrapEa^Urs jjiaZi]udTwr f 
ilTrsp av'dpx^Q vpiv sariv q twp vfierepiov yoaowv avdyvwcic, 

K. T. \. 



CHAP. YI.l CHRISTIANITY AXD ITS PROFESSORS. 89 

from the Yiolent opposition at that time existing be- 
tween heathenism and Christianity) that the most dis- 
tinguished Fathers, and still more the great body of 
common Christians. 1 did treat the great works of anti- 
quity with unbecoming disrespect. 

It was especially offensive to Julian, that men who 
denied the existence of the gods, should undertake to 
expound writings of which he considered the gods as 
the originators, and the pervading idea of which was 
reverence for those same gods. 2 As Julian required 
strict morality in the instructors of youth, it seemed to 
him the most despicable hypocrisy for a teacher to un- 
dertake, for profit's sake, the explanation of writings 
penetrated by the spirit of the old religion, while he 
himself denied the truth of that spirit. In this, he did 
not require that the teachers should alter their views for 
the sake of the young men, but only that they should 
not teach what was not to them earnest truth. He re- 
commends him i who believes that those writers sinned, 
through error, against the Holy One, to attend the ex- 



1 Gregory himself observes (without approving the feeling), 
that most Christians entirely despised worldly learning, as if it 
were morally dangerous and seductive, and tended to withdraw 
the mind from God. Orat. xliii. 11, p. 778. Many passages, 
nevertheless, occur in Gregory's writings which discover in him 
a strong partiality for the works of heathen genius. 

2 Julian. Epist. 42, p. 422. l What !' says he ; i were not the 
gods the originators and directors of the mental gTowth of a 
Homer, a Hesiod, Demosthenes, Herodotus, Thucydides, Iso- 
crates, Lysias ? Have not some of them dedicated their writings 
to Mercury, and others to the Muses ? It seems absurd, there- 
fore, to me, for any one to expound the works of these men, and 
at the same time to despise the gods whom they worshipped. ' 
. . . . Ov \ir\v inticr) tovt droirov ol^ai, (prjfii celv olutovq 
fiira^sfitvovg toXq vsolq' <jvvClclo[ii ck diptmv, firj cic&vkuv a 
fir) vo\ii'£ovoi (TTrovcaXa. 



90 JULIANS CONDUCT TOWARDS [SECT. II. 

positions of Matthew and Luke in the churches of the 
Galileans.' From these statements, it appears that 
Julian did not exactly forbid the Christians to engage 
in the study of heathen literature; on the contrary, he 
certainly wished that a large body of christian youths 
might attend the schools of the heathen rhetoricians and 
sophists, under the conviction that every one who had 
by nature anything noble in his character, must soon 
desert the ranks of Atheism (for such was Christianity 
in his view), and be won over to the service of the gods. 1 
But he determined that he who undertook to explain 
those writings which were inspired by the gods, and 
exhibited their living power, should also reverence those 
gods in word and deed; or, to speak more plainly, that 
heathens only should be the instructors of youth. 2 By 
this decree, therefore, Christians were excluded from the 
teacher's chair. It was a regulation slow, indeed, in its 
operation, but calculated to produce great effects. It 
must necessarily influence the rising generation, if the 
sciences were taught only by heathen masters. If the 
Christians would not see their sons excluded from the 
higher branches of education, they must send them to 



1 Cyrill. contra Julian., vii. p. 229. 

2 On this point, therefore, Sozomenus requires, without doubt, 
to be set right, when, in his Eccles. Hist., v. 18, he says: f He 
did not allow the sons of the Christians to study the Grecian 
poets and orators, or to attend the expositors of them in the 
schools.' Amniianus Marcellin. (agreeing, in meaning, with 
Julian's own expressions) says, much more correctly, xxv. 4 : 
Inter quae erat illud inclemens, quod docere vetuit magistros 
rhetoricos et grammaticos Christianos, ni transissent ad numinum 
cultum. And Orosius, lib. vii. c. 30, says: Aperto tamen praecepit 
edicto, ne quis Christianus docendorum liberalium studiorum 
professor esset. See Schlosser's Weltgeschichte, 1st Part, p. 650, 
and his whole sketch of Julian. 



CHAP. VI.] CHRISTIANITY AND ITS PROFESSORS. 91 

the heathen schools, with the certain danger that, by the 
influence of those eloquent and zealous teachers, the 
seeds of heathenism would be sown in their young 
minds. 1 The christian teachers, indeed, endeavoured 
to remedy this sad state of things by means of poetic 
productions, written in the spirit of Christianity. But 
these specimens of forced workmanship were only neces- 
sary substitutes for the free, inspired creations of Homer, 
jSophocles, and Plato, those immortal instructors and 
models of human genius. When familiar acquaintance 
with Greek science was thus withdrawn from the 
Christians (especially the Greek Christians of that time), 
much that was valuable was certainly withdrawn from 
them; and it is erroneously asserted that Christianity, 
in its then condition, could have derived no advantage, 
or at least very little, from the adoption of a classical 
education. How could it bid defiance to the attacks of 
learned and philosophical heathens (and particularly 
Julian himself) without the development of the scientific 
elements which it contained 1 And how was this de- 
velopment to be effected, but by an union with the in- 
vestigations and productions of earlier generations ? 
How could it, without them, become the religion of the 
most cultivated portion of mankind, — nay, the universal 
religion 1 

Julian had a show of reason for his conduct. It- 
seemed to him, according to his religious views, 2 not to 



1 As it actually happened, for instance, at Athens. See above, 
p. 33. 

2 Julian looked upon the works of the heathen writers, especi- 
ally the poets, as at the same time religious documents, and, as 
such, he would not allow them to be expounded by professors of 
another religion, and one, in its very nature, destructive of 
heathenism. He proceeded on the same views and the same 



92 JULIANS CONDUCT TOWARDS [SECT. II. 

be endured that the Christians should expect to extract 
scientific nourishment from the outward shell of those 
works > of which they rejected the internal, religious 
kernel. To his really pious ruind, this 
was the main point ; and therefore he thought that he 
who disdained that, should have nothing at all. Still 
there was also some degree of injustice 1 in Julian's 
arrangement; 2 and this is particularly pointed out by 
Gregory of Xazianzum. when he remarks. 3 that the 
Hellenistic literature and language are bv no means so 
necessarily connected with the heathen religion, that the 
one could not be made use of or enjoyed without the 
other. He very justly, at the same time, looks upon 
the works of Grecian genius as the common property of 
the human race, wholly unconnected with religious be- 
lief, and over which no individual, be he ever so powerful, 
could have exclusive authority. He asks Julian whether 
Hellenic civilization, the language of Athens, the noble 



principles as we should do. in not allowing our rising youth to 
attend the expositions of any professor of a strange religion, and 
one hostile to Christianity. But it was possible to consider the 
works of classical antiquity from another point of view, where 
the religious creed is not immediately concerned : viz.. to Yiew 
them (as in modern times they are generally viewed) as a basis of 
universal application (not belonging to one nation or one religious 
code, but to the human race), a basis for the education of civilized 
humanity — an awakening model of the great, the good, the 
beautiful. 

1 If it were really just and universally applicable, we of the 
present day could not presume to meddle with the exposition of 
classical works ; since we also, though judging more mercifully 
of the heathen religions than did the Fathers of the fourth century, 
are yet professors of a religion which has destroyed heathenism. 
[X.B. — I have given this as a note, instead of part of the feet. — 
Translator.] 

2 Even the heathen writer Ammianus speaks of the decree as 
' inclemens.' 

3 Orat. iv. 102, pp. 132—136. 



CHAP. VI.] CHRISTIANITY AND ITS PROFESSORS. 93 

poems of Greece, belonged only to him; whether he 
intended to withhold from the Christians only the ele- 
gant and refined language of the Greeks, or, in the end, 
the Greek language generally, even the common vulgar 
form of it ; and the like. 

Undoubtedly Julian, although provoked by the Chris- 
tians, should have understood better the limits of his 
power, since it does not lie within the privilege of a 
ruler to withhold from his subjects an important means 
of their accustomed education. We cannot look into 
Julian's soul, and see whether, under the show of zeal 
for the interests of the gods, he really concealed the 
artful design of thus giving to Christianity the most 
deadly blow. Manifestly, however, the worst conse- 
quences — even the gradual undermining of Christ's 
religion — were necessarily connected with his pro- 
ceedings in this respect. 

The same principle of action, under whose guidance 
Julian laboured with all his power for the renovation 
and improvement of the heathen priesthood, prompted 
him to have recourse to everything, in order to deprive 
the christian ministry of their influence, their riches, 
and their respectability. He could injure the Church 
in general most effectually through the degradation of 
its ministers. "While he conducted himself more mildly 
towards the great body of the Christians, as a herd of 
misguided, erring creatures, he exercised severity towards 
their spiritual leaders, whom he looked upon as seducers 
and promoters of rebellion, and especially towards the 
undaunted champions of Christianity, such as Athanasius. 
He withdrew from the clergy the right of jurisdiction, 
which, to a certain extent, had been granted to them, 
immunity from state- burdens, the privilege of making 



94 Julian's conduct towards [sect. ii. 

wills and receiving legacies — a power which they certainly 
might have often abused. 1 In return for this, Julian 
secured to the heathen priests their former privileges, 
and endeavoured to enrich the temples by means of 
public contributions. 2 

So much concerning Julian's conduct towards 
Christianity in general. The particular instances of 
persecution which took place under his government 
(and of which Gregory of Xazianzum 3 especially, and 
also Sozomenus, relate many examples with a minuteness 
that produces a feeling of horror and indignation) we 
have no necessity here to discuss, since it would be 
difficult to prove that Julian ordered the perpetration 
of such cruelties, or that they were practised with his 
knowledge. He may certainly have been too conniving 
towards the heathens, who had been embittered by the 
oppression exercised for some years against them by the 
Christians, 4 and were now excited by the re-action to a 
spirit of persecution. 

"We might be inclined, in a great measure, to excuse 
Julian's conduct towards Christianity as the result of 
his religious and political convictions. Certainly, his 
transfer of the education of youth to heathen teachers 
sprung from his conscientious regard for the religious 
character of the works of antiquity, as did his exclusive 
patronage of heathen candidates for public offices from 



1 Julian. Epist. 52, ad Bostrenos, p. 437. Sozom. v. o. 

2 Sozom. v. 3. 

3 Ex. gr.j Orat. iv. 93, p. 127, and elsewhere. 

4 The sophist Libanius speaks with uncommon bitterness of 
these christian persecutions against the heathens : MovwSia s-i 
'IovXlciv. p. 509. 'Evirati. Itti 'IovX. p. 529. edit. Eeisk. In 
the first of these passages referred to, he recounts what Julian 
had done for the relief of depressed heathenism, p. 510 et seq. 



CHAP. VI.] CHRISTIANITY AND ITS PROFESSORS. 95 

his belief, that the institutions of the state and of religion 
should combine together so as to form a whole. But 
when Julian made such an application of these principles 
as must necessarily and thoroughly prove destructive to 
Christianity, he clearly displayed not merely a religious 
zeal for heathenism (which we acknowledge as the 
noblest, though deformed feature in Julian's mind), but 
also a strong and intolerant hatred towards Christianity, 1 
a hatred which we can the less overlook through a mis- 
taken leniency, because it did not present itself in its 
avowedly hostile and odious form, but under the false 
show of a just and impartial toleration. 

In saying this, we should not deny or throw into the 
shade Julian's virtues in other respects as a man and as 
a ruler. When we have taken due notice of the youthful 
insolence wherewith Julian treats Christianity, the proud 
self-consciousness which gleams out in his actions and 
his writings (especially in his satirical treatment even 
of the greatest men in his Ccesars, a work full of talent 
and animation), the vanity with which he complacently 
described himself as 'a cynic-stoic on the Imperial 
throne,' and affected to revive in his own person the 
phenomenon of an ancient hero and a simple republican ; 
still we find in him, on the other side, much that is truly 
great and noble; an incessant activity 2 for the good of 



1 Even Ammianus Marcell. confesses that Julian by no means 
showed his usual love of justice in regard to the Christians, and 
that, in this respect, he was ' interdum dissimilis sui.' See the 
whole of the remarkable passage, lib. xxv. 4, 19. Libanius also 
does not take much trouble to conceal Julian's partiality for the 
heathens and against the Christians. See, among other places, 
his 'E7Tira0. p. 564. 

8 'Aft yap £t%£v kv X E P <JLV V (3if5\ovg rj 07r\a, — says Libanius, 
Epitaph., p. 546. He could, like Caesar, attend to different kinds of 
business simultaneously, and at one and the same time be read to, 



96 geegory's writings [sect. ii. 

his subjects (especially for the citizen); a love for im- 
partial justice (which he forgot only in respect to the 
Christians) ; an effort to acquire the most perfect 
simplicity of manners: a self-denying abstinence from 
all the enjoyments of life; a valour worthy of the 
ancients; manly earnestness and severity- combined 
with a tender affection towards individuals, in whom he 
honoured mind only, not power nor rank. 1 It is to be 
regretted that this affectionate sympathy found no better 
subjects than those conceited rhetoricians and sophists; 
that the religious zeal of Julian was stained by so much 
bigotry; above all. that his highly-gifted mind could 
have so mistaken the spirit of Christianity and the 
mental tone of the times, and that therefore he became 



dictate ; and give an audience. To fxiv ava—ave'jzai ruv duucaviov 
i]v, avTov 5* £7r' tpyov a—' epyov fi^rairtSdv. Liban. Epitaph., 
p. 580. The mind and character of Julian are learnt in the best 
and most lively colours from his own writings, when (as we con- 
fessedly must) we strip off the clothing of sophistical rhetoric from 
most of his expressions. Next to Julian's own writings, Am- 
mianus Marcellinus is particularly useful (see an interesting pas- 
sage .in Animian., xxt. 4). Not quite so trustworthy are either 
his too partial and rhetorical friends (such as Libanius, in several 
writings, especially in his Epitapliios and his Monodiah or his 
equally prejudiced opponents, Gregory, Sozomenus, and others. 

1 Consult, with this view, Julian's epistles to several learned 
men, rhetoricians, and philosophers, of his day ; among others, 
Epist. 40. p. 417, to Iamblichus, to whom, for instance, he says : 
' Then came the excellent Sopater to me ; as soon as I recognised 
him, I sprang forward delighted and embraced him, weeping for 
joy, because I was persuaded he was the bearer of letters from 
you. As soon as I received them I kissed them, pressed them to 
my eyes, &c.' See a similar letter to Libanius (Epist. 44. p. 425 >. 
to whom he expresses the modest wish ' that he were worthy of 
his friendship.' The dark side of this intercourse of Julian with 
his beloved sophists (a view which is certainly not to be over- 
looked) is given very prominently by Schlosser, in the Wdt- 
geschichte, vol. i. p. 649 et seq. ; and still more so in a review of 
Keander's Julian, in the Jena Literary Gazette for Januarv. 1S13. 
p. 121—133. 



CHAP. VI.] AGAINST JULIAN. 97 

only a short-lived, tumultuous, alarming phenomenon, 
when he might have been the greatest benefactor, as 
well as the genius of his age. 

(c.) Gregory s Writings against Julian. 

I have deemed it the more a matter of duty to ex- 
hibit thus fully the less pleasing side in Julian's character, 
because it can thence only be explained why it was that 
many ancient christian writers (whose statements, how- 
ever, we must not hastily reject) express themselves 
concerning this man with such unheard-of asperity. 
Their delineations are exaggerated, their narratives are 
not unfrequently disfigured by party-hatred — but still 
we must not regard them as merely the outpourings of 
a (generally well-meant) zealotism. For instance, it 
would be almost incomprehensible how the ever right- 
minded Gregory of iSTazianzum could have written, and 
seasoned with such biting acrimony, his Invectives 1 



1 These Invectivae, or Aoyoi GTrfKirevTiKoi (the 3rd and 4th 
Oration according to the old arrangement, but the 4th and 5th in 
the more recent) extend, in the Benedictine edition, from p. 78 
to p. 176. Some remarkable criticisms, both of earlier and later 
date, together with some literary notices concerning these Invec- 
tives, occur in the Introduction, by the Benedictine, Clemencet, 
p. 73 — 77 ; the last are given still more complete in Fabricius, 
Biblioth. Grose, vol. viii. p. 392, ed. Harl. Among the detached 
editions of the Invectives with which I am acquainted, the fol- 
lowing (called by Fabricius ' rara et prsestans Edit.') is the most 
interesting : S. Gregorii Nazianzeni in Julianum invectives dwz. 
Cum scholiis Grsecis nunc primum eclitis et ejusdem Authoris 
nonnullis aliis. Omnia ex biblioth. Henr. Savilii edid. R, Mon- 
tagu. Etonse exc. J. Norton, 1610. This edition is especially 
distinguished by a collection of striking various readings and 
comments upon all the writings of Gregory, made by Saville 
(who meditated an edition of Greg. Nag.), Montagu, and some 
friends, from a collection of many MSS. In reference to the 



98 Gregory's writings [sect. II. 

against Julian, then actually dead, unless Julian had 
really allowed himself to do much that was shocking and 
revolting against the Christians. We have, however, to 
speak somewhat more exactly of these two Philippics. 
It might not be uninteresting, though it would be 
superfluous, to analyze fully the contents of these 
writings, which seem animated rather by the fire of 
passion, than a genuine christian spirit. Some portions, 
however, must be brought forward to show their 
character. Gregory, as he himself signifies, 1 intended 
by means of these orations (which most probably were 
not designed to be publicly delivered, but only to be 
read) to raise a monument, whereby the name of Julian, 
in that and in every succeeding age, should be held up to 
universal contempt and reproach. He does not conceal 
his intention to represent a great prince, with whom 
death might be supposed to have reconciled him, as a 
dark monster, nor disdain, for this object, to employ the 
harshest terms. 'The apostate, the Assyrian, the 
dragon, the common enemy, the wholesale murderer,' 
and similar expressions, salute our ears in every part of 



usual title, *27i]XiTEVTiicbg \6yog, it is worth while to compare the 
following Scholion of Nonnus (whose Scholia to the Invectives are 
printed by Montagu) : 6 (tttjXltevtikoc ovtogi Xoyog, ipoyog kcri 
rwv 'lovXiavitj 7TE7rpayiisv(ov. dicup'epsi de tboyog GTifKirevTazov, 
otl 6 jxkv tpoyog did tujv syKOJfiicMjTiiz&v Ks6a\aiwv TrpoEpxErai, 
olov ysvovQ, dvaarpocprjg, Trpd^sojv, GvyKpiaEuyg' 6 de <J7i]Xi7EV7iKbg 

did TixJV TTOa^EWV flOVOV' El TVXOl $E Kal GVyKpiaEWQ' GTrjXiTEVTiKOQ 

de E'lprjraL dirb jiETCKpopag rrjg <TT-rj\r]Q 9 CTrjkr) ce egti XiSog, 17 
XctXicbg ev siTLfiriKSi TErpaywvqj (jxhfxan, ev (fi EyyEypairrai t) tov 
(TTrjXiTEvofi'svov vfipig, k.t.X. The word (tttjXiteveiv and its 
cognate terms occur several times in the Orations. Compare also, 
on this head, Stephan. Thesa/ar., torn. i. p. 1807, and, as there 
cited, Budseus in Comment. Ling. Gr., and, still further, Suid. 
Lex., torn. iii. p. 374 ; and Montagu ad Gregor. Invect., i. not. i. 
1 Orat, iv. 1, p. 78 ; iv. 92, p. 126 ; v. 42, p. 176. 



CHAP. VI.] AGAINST JULIAN. 99 

both these orations. 1 The professed object of the first 
is to place Julian's faults, and the tyranny he exercised 
against the Christians; in the strongest light ; in the 
other (which Gregory thinks must be particularly 
pleasing and profitable to his readers), 2 he undertakes 
to show the infallible judgment of God upon the un- 
righteous, and brings forward, in this relation, the ex- 
ample of Julian as his main proof. 

It is remarkable how the orator, while he dooms 
Julian to hell, invokes the great soul of Constantius from 
heaven, and heaps upon him unheard-of encomiums; 3 
Gregory only blames Constantius (in his eyes so great 
and noble) for having preserved and raised to power, in 
the person of Julian, a man so pernicious to the empire. 

1 Orat. iv. 35, p. 93 ; iv. 68, p. 108 ; iv. 77, p. 115, and else- 
where. Compare Orat. xviii- 32, p. 352. At one time playing 
upon his name, Julianus, he calls him EicujXiavog, at another, 
ironically, vovq fisyag, and the like. 

2 Orat. v. 1, p. 147. 

3 Orat. iv. 34, p. 93 et seq. The praises bestowed by Gregory 
upon Constantius are naturally heightened as an antithesis to 
Julian ; otherwise Gregory had, we may suppose, much also to 
blame in Constantius, particularly his patronage of Arianism. 
But he even makes an excuse for him on that score : Constantius, 
he says, at the end of his life repented of three things ; in the 
first place, that he caused his own kinsman to be killed ; in the 
second, that he had nominated as Ca3sar the apostate Julian ; 
but especially, in the third place, that he had ever favoured new 
doctrines. — Orat. xxi. 26, p. 402, et seq. We cannot properly 
accuse Gregory of flattery, though we may of partiality, on ac- 
count of the laudatory terms in which he speaks of the then 
deceased Constantius. To the charge of adulation towards Con- 
stantius, Julian himself is much more open, when he extols that 
prince, while yet living, in a most unblushing way. He all but 
speaks of him as not only the greatest of rulers, but as the greatest 
of men. Jul. Orat. i. in Constantii laudes, p. 46, and elsewhere. 
At a later time, and especially after the death of Constantius, 
Julian speaks of him with proportionably greater bitterness. 
See, principally, Julian. Epist. ad Athenienses, p. 270 ; and his 
Ccesares, pp. 385 and 386. 

H 2 



100 Gregory's writings [sect. 11. 

To this act of Constantius he applies the epithet of 
c inhuman humanity ,' l or barbarous kindness ; and yet 
Constantius must have been considered as having 
heaped crime upon crime, if he had not thus preserved 
the life of his near kinsman, Julian. It was, to speak 
the truth, a high degree of party zeal, that could 
deceive to such an extent the otherwise kind and gentle 
disposition of Gregory. It is painful to notice such 
features ; but they belong to the accuracy of the picture. 
Gregory, however, apologizes on the following grounds 
(as if a duty of humanity ever required an apology !) for 
the conduct of Constantius in preserving the life of 
Julian ; i he may have wished thereby to clear himself 
from the suspicion of having perpetrated certain crimes 
(the murder of Julian's family) ; he might desire to set 
Julian an example of magnanimity, as well as to give 
more strength to his own government ; on the whole, 
however, he certainly displayed in this proceeding more 
kind-heartedness than wisdom.' 2 Julian, on the con- 
trary, is the more severely censured, for having repaid 
God and Constantius for his preservation with such 
black ingratitude- — the former by apostasy, the latter by 
revolt. 3 Gregory charges Julian especially with hypo- 
crisyj because, though already for a long time devoted 
in heart to heathenism, 4 he still externally appeared to 



1 '&7ravSQU)TT0Q (pL\av5ptJ7ria. — Orat. iv. 35. p. 93. In another 
place he says : ov koXujc sQikavSpojTrevfJaro. — iv. 3, p. 79. 

2 Orat. iv. 22, p. 87. " 

3 Orat. iv. 21, p. 87. 

4 Gregory relates that Julian, in his youthful philosophical 
disputations with his brother Gallus, often undertook the defence 
of heathenism, under the pretence of taking the weaker side, for 
practice' sake; but in reality, because he could not even then 
wholly suppress his preference for heathenism. — Orat. iv. 30, 
p. 91. 



CHAP. VI.] AGAINST JULIAN. 101 

be a good Christian ; a reproach which, assuredly, is also 
confirmed by the testimony of heathen writers. (See 
Libanius, Epitaph., p. 528 ; and Ammian. Marcell.,xxi. 2 \ 
xxii. 5.) 

A singular exhibition (which, indeed, is often repeated 
in the pages of history) here demands our attention — viz. 
how superstition prevailed on both sides — the heathen 
as well as the christian ; each party most violently 
charging this upon the other, and insisting on its own 
freedom from it, whilst both were alike influenced by it, 
though under different forms. These orations of Gregory 
furnish examples of this. Magic arts, theurgic and pro- 
phetic pretensions, belonged to the tendencies of the 
age, and showed themselves, under altered appearances, 
among heathens and Christians ; even an education such 
as Julian had received could not free him from the in- 
fluence. Whilst Julian censures the ' silly, wonder- 
seeking credulity of the Christians,' he fancies himself to 
be in constant and immediate intercourse with gods and 
goddesses, until he actually feels the soft contact of their 
presence, and does not hesitate to receive the most in- 
credible heathen legends with the most devout renuncia- 
tion of his reasoning powers ; * and while Gregory reviles 
the heathen superstition of his opponents, he exhibits 
his christian superstition by relating things which 
hardly any one will think of believing. Thus, on one 
occasion a cross, adorned with a crown, and therefore 
emblematic of victory, is said to have appeared in the 
entrails of a victim to Julian, who, it is well known, 



1 For instance : the fable, that a pure vestal- virgin drew onward 
by her girdle the ship laden with the statue of the great mother 
of the gods, which, till then, no physical force had been able to 
put in motion. Julian. Orat. in Matrem Deor., p. 159 et seq. 



102 Gregory's writings [sect. ii. 

attached very extraordinary value to prodigies, and 
himself, as a master, practised the art of soothsaying. 1 
And again ; Julian, under the guidance of his favourite 
theurgic philosophers, once found himself in a subter- 
ranean cave, for the purpose of exorcising ghosts ; these 
ghosts, however (so Gregory tells the story), 2 rushed 
upon him with alarming violence, and Julian took 
refuge in the sign of the cross, which he had already 
renounced; the sign even now proved efficacious, and 
the demons were scared away ! In the Persian war, 
Gregory makes Julian, besides his troops of soldiers, to 
be accompanied by another troop, of demons ; while his 
admirer, Libanius, on the contrary, gives him a troop 
of Deities. 3 Thus an invisible world would seem to 
have been at the command of both sides ! 

We pass over the harsh and unjust reproaches which 
Gregory brings against Julian, as if he had been given 
to drunkenness and sensuality, 4 and had even involved 
himself in the black crime of causing the death of Con- 
stantius ; 5 and we only remark, in conclusion (that we 



1 Sozomen. v. 2. Liban. Epitaph., p. 582 .... fxavrsuiv rs rolg 
apiffroig %p(t>jii£voc, avrog Se o)v ovdafiojv kv rrj rkxvy devrepog. 

2 Orat. iv. 54 — 56, p. 101 et seq. Sozomen relates the same 
anecdote, probably on the testimony of Gregory, v. 2. 

3 Gregor. Orat. v. 1, p. 151. Liban. Monod. p. 508. The 
latter says : d\\' ^wv a\i(^ avrbv rovg Seovq, oXlyrjv arpaTidv 
fjikya dvvajjLSvrjv. 

4 Orat.v. 22, p. 175. On the other hand, Liban. Epitaph, p. 582. 
Ammian. Marcell. xxv. 4. Et primum ita inviolata castitate 
enituit, ut post amissam conjugem nihil unquam venereum agi- 
taret. 

5 Orat. iv. 47, p. 90. Read, on this point, Julian's own ex- 
planation, Epist. xiii. ad Julian, avuncul. p. 382. What a dark 
hypocrite must Julian have been, in thus mourning for the death 
of Constantius ! Liban. Epitaph, p. 561. But Julian practised 
no such hypocrisy ; and he was too noble-minded for assassination. 



CHAP. VI.] AGAINST JULIAN. 103 

may not be unfair in these imputations against Gregory), 
that he strongly exhorts his readers to use, not force, but 
gentle patience, as the truly christian weapon against 
tyrants; to learn meekness from the example of 
Christ; not to revenge themselves, but to leave the 
adjustment of recompence to God, while they thanked 
God for His wonderful protection from imminent 
danger, by the more zealous devotion of a christian 
life. 1 Would that he had practised in his own language 
the patient forbearance which he so earnestly recom- 
mends to others ! Certainly, none but partizans can 
acquit Gregory's orations against Julian of violent 
prejudice; while the unprejudiced reader must wish that 
the good cause of Christianity had been better defended— 
that is, with more judgment and charity, and with less 
of passion — by the orator who was so earnest in its 
defence. His eloquence would then have been infinitely 
more effective. 

Some exculpation, however, is due to Gregory. 
Julian's plan of government challenged every one who 
was in earnest for Christianity to take the field against 
him ; and he who ventured on this contest must neces- 
sarily come forward boldly and energetically, in order, 
for the future also, to deter the bold hands of those who 
might again wish to assail the Church of Christ. 
Gregory looked upon Christianity as man's highest 
happiness, — the most precious palladium of the human 
race ; how readily, then, would his wrath be kindled 
against one who aimed at the destruction of that 
dearest treasure. Still farther; when Gregory wrote, 
the whole christian world was still filled with the terror 



1 Orat, v. 37, p. 172 et seq. 



104 POSITION OF GKEGORY AND HIS [SECT. II. 

of Julian's government ; that phenomenon had but just 
passed, like a portentous meteor, big with mischief, 
over the christian sky. Thence it was that the excited 
tone of that living hatred, which animated the great 
body of Christians, expressed itself in these orations. 
At that period of the great struggle for life or death 
between heathenism and Christianity, a just estimate of 
the man who, at the head of the heathen party, 
threatened ruin to the christian religion, was not pos- 
sible, or, at least, it would have required superhuman 
circumspection and moderation. With less of passion, 
Gregory would certainly have confided more in the 
inward power of the Divine cause; he would not have 
stirred up still more the already excited minds of men; 
he would not have been so credulous against Julian and 
for the Christians; he would not have adopted the 
violent, dogmatizing tone, wherewith the remarkable 
character of Julian, as a moral phenomenon, was so 
frequently tossed aside, as something utterly con- 
temptible. But who can always observe . moderation, 
when under the influence even of a righteous anger ? 

(d.) The Position in which Gregory and his Family 
stood towards Julian. 

It is well known that Julian removed from court 
almost all persons who surrounded his hated prede- 
cessor, either as members of his council or as favourite 
servants, and that some of them were treated with in- 
justice and harshness. l But the brother of Gregory had 



1 Examples of this are to be found in Ainmian. Marcell. xxii. 3. 
Among others, speaking of the execution of one such officer of 
the court — Ursulus, the comes largitionum — this writer says : 
Ursuli vero necem ipsa mihi videtur flesse Justitia, Imperatorem 
arguens ut ingratum. 



CHAP. VI.] FAMILY TOWARDS JULIAN. 105 

gained for himself, as the special physician to Con- 
stantius, such high respect by his skill and good 
conduct, that Julian so far constrained himself as to 
retain him in the palace. Nay, the philosophic emperor 
even determined, after having been successful, here and 
there, in his zeal for making converts, to make an 
attempt upon Caesarius also, and engaged for that 
purpose in a religious conversation with him. Un- 
fortunately, Gregory thought it unnecessary to com- 
municate the nature and details of that interview; he 
only remarks, that his brother defended his convictions 
before the emperor with equal christian truth and 
philosophic dexterity, and in the hearing of a large 
assembly declared, ' that he was a Christian, and would 
always remain one.' The emperor had sufficient tolera- 
tion to retain him, nevertheless, in his society. The 
firmness of his court-physician, and the thought of the 
still greater christian zeal of his brother Gregory (after- 
wards to become so famous), only extorted from him 
the ejaculation, ' happy father of two unhappy sonsP 
He had good reason to call the father happy who had 
begotten two such sons, but no less so the sons, whose 
religious convictions no external power could shake. 1 

Gregory, who was at that time living with his 
parents, was not a little anxious respecting the critical 
position of his brother in the imperial palace. He could 
not know, as yet, how firm his brother would be in the 
confession of his faith, but he could not but be well 
convinced that Julian would make every effort to over- 
come it. In this embarrassment, when he probably had 
no intelligence from his brother, and doubtful rumours 
concerning him might be in circulation, he wrote to him 



1 Gregor. Orat. yii. 11, 12, 13, p. 205 et seq. 



106 POSITION OF GKEGOEY AXD HIS [SECT. II. 

a letter (Epist, 17, p. 779), of which this may be given as 
the chief purport : f We blush deeply, and are filled with 
grief on your account. All Christians, friends and 
enemies, are talking of you. At one moment they say, 
6 Surely the son of a bishop will contend for the faith ;' at 
another, ' He contends, but it is for honour and power f 
and again, 6 He is overcome by gold.' How, then, can 
the bishops exhort others to constancy in the christian 
faith, when they cannot look with confidence to the 
members of their own families \ How can I comfort 
our father, already weary of life % Our mother would 
be perfectly inconsolable, were she to hear of you what 
we have hitherto carefully concealed from her. Out of 
regard, therefore, for yourself and for us, come to a 
better determination. We have already — at least, for 
any one of a frugal mind, means sufficient to live 
respectably. But if you do not relinquish your present 
post, there remains for you only the melancholy choice, 
either, as being a genuine Christian, to be cast down to 
the lowest station, or to pursue your ambitious plans, but 
then to suffer damage in more weighty things, and ex- 
pose yourself, if not to the fire, yet at least to the smoke.' 

Soon after this, Csesarius formed the resolution to 
retire into the bosom of his family, and he carried it 
into execution when Julian set out upon his Persian 
campaign. 1 

During Julian's reign, Gregory also endeavoured to 
serve the christian cause by urgent exhortations ad- 
dressed to distinguished individuals. Thus, among 
others, he wrcte a very flattering letter 2 to Candianus, a 
relation by consanguinity, and the holder of an honour- 



1 Gregor. Orat. vii. 13, p. 207. 2 Epist. 181, p. 891 et seq. 



CHAP. VI.] FAMILY TOWARDS JULIAN. 107 

able appointment, but who professed the heathen 
religion, not by way of homage to the fashion of the 
day, but in honest sincerity. The letter ends thus : — 
1 In return for all your friendship, I wish you not any 
increase of your power and your reputation, but only the 
one greatest thing of all, — that you would at length listen 
to us and God, that you might stand on the side of the 
persecuted, and not of the persecutors ; for the benefit 
of the one passes away with the time, but the other 
imparts immortal happiness.' 

The courageous bearing of Gregory's aged father 
during the Julian persecution is also remarkable. The 
following particulars relating thereto have been pre- 
served. Julian, to whom it must have been a great 
object to turn many a christian church into a temple for 
the gods, made with this view an experiment at Nazi- 
anzum. The imperial prefect of the province marched 
with a company of archers into the city, and demanded 
that the church should be given up to him. 1 His 
numerous retinue indicated an appeal to force. The 
bishop, however, who knew that he could reckon on the 
zealous support of the christian population, which was 
devoted to him, boldly resisted the demand; and the 
prefect found it advisable to withdraw, happy to escape 
thence without loss or damage. 2 

The following incident is still more important. 3 In 

1 ^fielov, 01 re 70%6rai, K<xi 6 tovtujv orparjjyoc, ovg k7rr}yev 
ktcelivog, roig hpolg o'itcoig yjijl&v, <j*g r\ 7rapa\r]\p6n£vog, r} kcltcig- 
rpeipdjjievoc. 

2 Gregor. Orat. xviii. 22, p. 353, Gregory boasts of his father 
on this occasion, that he not only encouraged his people to stand 
firm in those bad days by word and deed, but also, to the ruin of 
his health, continued his prayers for the general welfare of the 
church, through whole nights. 

3 Gregor. Orat. xviii, 34, p. 355. 



108 POSITION OF GREGORY. [SECT. II. 

the year of our Lord 362, Eusebius, who held an 
imperial appointment, was, by means of a tumultuous 
popular election, named bishop in the chief city of 
Cappadocia. The assembled bishops of the province 
were compelled, against their wishes, to ratify the choice 
and consecrate him, but afterwards declared the whole 
proceeding invalid. Julian also opposed the choice, 
because he was sorry to lose a valuable public officer. 
The aged Gregory, although presiding over a small and 
uninrportant bishopric, undertook to defend the choice of 
the people against the objections of the bishops 1 and the 
displeasure of the emperor. When the imperial deputy 
had summoned before him the bishops who had con- 
secrated Eusebius, in order to settle the business agree- 
ably to the wish of the emperor, the Bishop Gregory 
replied to him as follows : — ' Most noble governor, 2 in all 
that we have done we have but one Judge and King, 
and his authority is now assailed. He will also take 
cognizance of this episcopal consecration, which we have 
taken in hand in a legal manner, and well-pleasing to 
Him. If you are pleased to do us violence in any 



1 Gregory INazianzen thus gives his opinion on the matter : 
e The consecration was certainly compulsory, and therefore, as to 
the form, defective : but the choice proceeded from the devout 
sense of the people, and, in point of fact, fell upon a worthy man. 
If it were, however, opposed to the convictions of the bishops, 
they ought to have protested against it at the decisive moment, 
and even have resisted to the utmost, and not afterwards strive 
against it, and so increase the troubles of the Church in such dan- 
gerous times. Do they ask for indulgent consideration on the 
ground that they yielded to the pressure of circumstances \ — this, 
surely, should much more be shown to Eusebius, who also was 
compelled to occupy the episcopal seat/ Orat. xviii. 33, p. 354. 

2 7 G KpariGTs ijyefxwv, — as Felix and Festus are addressed ; see 
Acts, xxiii. 26 ; xxiv. 3; xxvi. 25 ; and also Theophilus, to whom 
St. Luke dedicates his writings. St. Luke, i. 3. 



CHAP. VII.] GREGORY AS PEACE-MAKER. 109 

other matter, you will find no difficulty; but this pri- 
vilege no man can forbid us, to defend the propriety and 
justice of our proceeding. You cannot prohibit it by 
any law; and it ill becomes you in any manner to 
trouble yourself with our concerns.' The deputy was 
overcome by this manly address of the bishop; the 
emperor gave way; and the citizens of Caesarea saw 
themselves not only delivered from the danger which 
the imperial displeasure had threatened, but also gratified 
by the fulfilment of their wishes. 



CHAPTER VII. 

GREGORY AGAIN" AS PEACE-MAKER. 

We must pause awhile at Cresarea, where we find our 
Gregory again undertaking the business of a mediator. 
His bosom friend Basil had just then returned from 
the scene of his monastic life in Pontus, to Csesarea, his 
native city; and, as had before happened to Gregory, 
was ordained priest, against his will, by the recently- 
elected bishop, Eusebius (this was probably in a.d. 363 
or 364). This prelate, who, from the nature of his 
previous course of life, could not be very conversant 
with theological studies, wished to have about him a 
thoroughly-educated presbyter, who was well furnished 
for controversy. Such a person Basil had already shown 
himself by several of his writings. "Whether the newly - 
ordained presbyter caused the bishop occasionally to 
feel his superiority in thinking and in speaking, or 
whether some other unpleasantness arose between them, 
certainly their good understanding did not last long ; 



110 GREGORY AS PEACE-MAKER. [SECT. II. 

. and Eusebius, Vent so far. 1 under the influence of passion, 
as again violently to take away from the same person 
the priestly office which he had violently forced upon 
him. A hazardous proceeding ! since the powerful and 
(when it was worth their while) pugnacious party of the 
monks were devoted, with all their energies, to Basil. 
the great promoter of monachism. A serious division 
in the community was almost unavoidable, had not 
Basil generously preferred a voluntary exile 2 in Pontus 



1 Gregory speaks generally in high terms of Eusebius, and de- 
scribes him as a pious man. and (especially in the persecution by 
Yalens) very fimi and courageous, He goes into detail on occa- 
sion of the disagreement between Eusebius and Basil : he throws 
the blame, however, upon the former, and remarks, that f some- 
thing common to man befel him in that affair" : u-tstoa yap ov 
tojv ttoWwv fiopov, aWa kclI t&v ulqIgtiov 6 MSt/iog. — Orat. xliii. 
28, p. 792 et seq. 

2 Orat. xliii. 29, p. 793. Gregory himself had urgently coun- 
selled his friend to take this step — viz. to withdraw into^ retire- 
ment, and had even followed him thither : tcai apta irvfij3ovXoi£ 
r/fuv rrepl rovrov xptiGafitvog kcli irapaivkratQ yvi]vioic. <pvyac 
kvS'svce aw i)fxTv Trpbg rbv Tiovrov fierax^pe'i, tcai roTc 6ke"kj8 
tipovTHTTijpioiG ETTitFTarei. By the way. the word ppovTHTTTjpiov 
is (as it is well known ) employed by Aristophanes (Nub., 1. 94 — 
-<bvx&v (?o<pu)v tqvt* £oti 6povTi(77)]pio7') in a playful manner in 
reference to the house or school of Socrates. Compare the 
expositors thereon, as collected by Beck, vol. ii. p. 74 et seq. 
Hesychius : 6povriari]pwv. diarpifii) tcai oiajpa Iojkccltovc. Kai. 
to axo\i1or. In general. fppovriGrrjpiov denotes a place where 
thought and meditation are strenuously exercised. As the chris- 
tian monks were often designated philosophers, their place of 
residence might also (though often unsuitably enough) be named 
houses or schools of philosophy. Thence, Suidas (torn. iii. p. 634) 
says : tipovTiGrijoiGv, ciaroiSi), q povaarripiov orrag cl 'Attlkcl 
GSfjLVEiov tcaXovtji. In this sense Gregoiy also uses the word 
6 povr kit i'iqlov in the above-quoted passage : and he, who so 
readily represented the monks as philosophers, was probably the 
first writer who so applied it. Some further notices occur in 
Suicer. Thes. Ecdes., torn. ii. p. 1464. Gregorius Presbyter, in his 
Life of Greg. Naz. } also calls an hospital for the sick, fpovrurrtipwv 
aaSevtov, tttux&v. 



CHAP. VII.] GKEGOKY AS PEACE-MAKER. Ill 

to a probably easy triumph over the bishop, who, from 
the Dature of his election, did not stand on very firm 
footing. Gregory accompanied his friend into retire- 
ment, but appears to have returned soon to Nazianzum 
to the support of his aged father. 1 

From Xazianzum, also, Gregory could exert himself 
more effectually for the reconciliation of his friend Basil 
with the exasperated Bishop of Caesarea; and amid the 
unfavourable circumstances of the time, a proper occasion 
happily soon presented itself for the attempt. Just at 
this time (that is to say, a.d. 364) danger seemed to 
threaten the orthodox party, when, after the short 
reign of Jovian, Valens, a favourer of Arianism, suc- 
ceeded to the imperial throne. In the critical circum- 
stances in which the orthodox bishops were placed by 
the bias of the new government, an able fellow-combatant 
must have been welcome to Eusebius. Such an one he 
had driven from him in the person of Basil. He now 
applied to Gregory, with the wish that he would come 
to Csesarea and assist in their councils. 2 Gregory 
answered the bishop respectfully, but with a considerable 
degree of frankness (Ejjist. xx. p. 783), that he certainly 
felt greatly honoured by the invitation, but, notwith- 
standing this, he could not but consider the manner in 



1 It is possible, though to me, at least, not probable, that on 
this occasion also Gregory acted as a peace-maker in his native 
city ; since the disagreement between his father and the monks 
(on account of his subscription to the Confession of Rimini) might 
have continued till now. To prevent, however, the fragmentary 
dissevering of the narrative, that which possibly belongs to this 
point of time has already been touched upon, in the account of 
that dissension. — See above, at p. 61 et seq. 

2 The words of Gregory (Epist. 20, p. 783) directly point to 
this : kyoj %Gupw vtto gov tihwiaevoq — teal KaXov^evog kni ts 
GvWoyovg /cat avvodovg TrvevfiaTttcovQ. 



112 GREGORY AS PEACE-MAKER. [SECT. II. 

which Eusebius had behaved, and still behaved, towards 
Basil, was unjust. ( "While you honour me/ (he says 
among other things) ' but treat him with contempt, you 
appear to me like a man who with one hand caresses 
the head, with the other inflicts a blow on the cheek of 
one and the same person; or who undermines the 
foundations of a house, and, at the same time, paints the 
walls and decorates the outside. If, therefore, I have 
any influence with you, you will prove it by being recon- 
ciled to Basil ; and I consider it but reasonable that you 
should concede this to me. If you treat him with 
respect, you will experience the same from him.' This 
address, in which certainly the submissive respect due 
to the metropolitan bishop is overpowered by affection 
for his friend, by no means produced any favourable 
impression upon Eusebius. He saw in it only the 
refractory arrogance of a young presbyter, and expressed 
himself to that effect in his reply to Gregory. He, in his 
turn, assured the bishop (Epist. 169, p. 877) 'that he 
had intended to address him, not in a reproachful, but 
in a spiritual and philosophic manner ; l that the higher 
position of the bishop does not take away the right of 
being open and candid with him; on the contrary, it 
would be worthy of a generous-minded person to listen 
with satisfaction rather to the free words of a friend, 
than to the flattery of an enemy. He hoped, therefore, 
he would again adopt a gentler bearing.' 

This epistle, and especially the general distress of the 
orthodox Church under the Emperor Yalens, appear to 
have succeeded better in softening, or at least in altering 



1 Ok vfipLCiTiKujc, ciWd TTvsviiariKajg re rat <pi\oo66ue. The 
last of these words may perhaps mean, ' as it is allowed and is 
suitable to a christian philosopher, or an ascetic' 



CHAP. VII.] GREGOKY AS PEACE-MAKER. 113 

the bishop's tone of mind. This is evident from a letter, 
written somewhat later by Gregory, and which ends 
with these words : — 6 Well, then, if it is agreeable to 
you, I will come and pray with you, contend with you, 
serve with you, and will stimulate you for the combat 
by my acclamation, as their youthful partizans do to 
encourage the combatants in the games.' ] Gregory ex- 
presses himself still more plainly concerning the altered 
temper of Eusebius, in an epistle to Basil {Epist. 19, 
p. 782), wherein he informs his friend that he would 
soon receive a conciliatory letter from his now friendly- 
minded bishop; but exhorts him, at the same time, to 
be beforehand with the bishop, and to go beyond his 
concession by a true generosity. With this view, he 
proposes to Basil that they should go together to 
Caesarea, and, with united energies, contend against the 
false doctrines which were pressing in on all sides. In 
fact, Basil returned to Caesarea in the year 365. 

From that period, Basil continued on the most 
friendly understanding with his bishop ; he became his 
councillor, his stay, his right hand, in many respects 
even his teacher ; he assisted him in all ways, and, 
whilst he thus made his services indispensable to him, 
he governed him also — and through the bishop, at the 
same time, governed the community. Gregory himself 
gives us very plainly to understand that, in those last 
years of his life (from 365 to 370), Eusebius was bishop 
only in name — Basil in fact. 2 Thus their mutual rela- 



1 Epist. 170, p. 878. These last words are very striking, and 
full of meaning in the original : icai v7nipsrrj(76fj.evoi, icai ojq 
dBXrjnjv apioTov KeXevarai Traldsg, raXg virocpojviiaeaiv vna- 
Xuipavreg. 

2 Gregory's excellent sketch is worth reading (Orat. xliii. 33, 
p. 796), where, among other things, he says of Basil : ' He 

I 



114 BASIL ELECTED [SECT. II. 

tions worked well together, since Eusebius, still some- 
what worldly-minded, and not properly educated for an 
ecclesiastical office, required an able clerical aid. But 
Basil was not only most worthy of high authority in 
the Church, but was also (as we shall see in the result) 
not averse from the exercise of that authority. He 
distinguished himself as a presbyter during a famine, 
when, both by word and deed, he showed himself a 
pattern for all the rich, and a blessing to the poor. (See 
Orat. xliii. 34, p. 797; and 63, p. 817). But still 
more (at least it was considered by the majority as the 
most weighty) did his steady efforts in defence of the 
Nicene Creed, during the Arian government of Yalens, 
command admiration; so that, on the occasion of a 
vacancy in the Bishopric of Cassarea, it was quite 
natural to regard him above all competitors in the 
choice of a successor. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

BASEL ELECTED BISHOP OF CESAREA : CONDUCT OF THE ELDER 
ABB OF THE YOUNGER GREGORY ON THAT OCCASION. 

This vacancy in the Bishopric of Caesarea, caused by 
the death of Eusebius, took place a.d. 370. Basilius 



exercised the chief power in the Church when he held only the 
second rank ; and while he did all in a spirit of kindness, he 
gained universal respect and authority. The harmony, and at 
the same time the complicity, in this exercise of authority was 
something wonderful : ttXoki) tov §vva<j$ai. The one led the 
people — the other, the leader. He was, in a measure, a lion- 
keeper {\tovTOKOfiog), while by his tact he softened the temper of 
his superior. For, indeed, the latter required it, since he had 
not long been raised to the episcopal chair, and still breathed 
something of the air of the world. ' 



CHAP. VIII.] BISHOP OF CLESAREA. 115 

might well aspire to the primacy, since, when he was not 
far advanced in years, (he was at that time 41,) it was 
principally he, in concert with Gregory, who, if he had 
not prevented, yet had greatly checked the introduction 
of Arianism into his fatherland. He had also dis- 
tinguished himself by his knowledge and pious zeal 
among the whole body of the clergy. It was, how- 
ever, exactly these prominent qualities of Basil that 
rekindled envy against him. The power he had 
already exercised had been a thorn in the eyes of many ; 
and when the election came on he met with violent 
opponents. 1 Basil, nevertheless, obtained his object; 
both the Gregorys, father and son, having especially 
exerted themselves for him — in characteristically different 
ways indeed, as we shall presently see. 

After the death of Eusebius, Basil wrote an epistle 2 
to Gregory, wherein he expresses the most ardent desire 
to see his friend, and thus proceeds : — ' On the death 
of Eusebius, no little fear has fallen upon me lest they, 
who for some time past have lain in wait against our 
Metropolitan Church, in order to fill it with the weeds of 
heresy, should take advantage of the present moment, 
and, by their vile doctrines, root up again the germs of 
piety that have been sown with much pains in the souls 
of the people, and sow the seeds of dissension, as they 
have already actually done in many Churches. But now, 
since letters have come to me from the clergy, request- 
ing that I would not be inactive at this juncture, I was 
reminded (as I glanced around in thought upon my 
means of help) of your affection, of your genuine faith, 



1 Greg. Orat. xviii. 35, p. 356. 

2 It is given among the letters of Gregory, p. 836. 

i 2 



116 BASIL ELECTED [SECT. IT. 

and the zeal which you always showed for the Church 
of God. I have therefore sent my fellow-labourer, 
Eustathius, for the purpose of exhorting you, a man so 
esteemed, to take part personally in the contest for the 
Churches, to gladden my age by your presence, to pre- 
serve for this excellent Church its reputation for piety 
inviolate, and to help, with me, to give that flock a 
shepherd after the Lord's own heart — one who would be 
able to guide his people aright. / have in my eye a 
man whom you also know well ; if we could but succeed 
in getting him, we might dare to be of good courage 
before God, and shoidd bestow a great blessing upon the 
people.'' 

It is not improbable that Basil had Gregory himself 
in his thoughts when he wrote these last words, and 
only chose to indicate it ambiguously, that he might the 
more certainly come to Csesarea. However that might 
be. Gregory went not. We are rather obliged to con- 
clude, from one of Gregory's letters, that Basil, on 
seeing the hesitation of his friend, wrote to him re- 
peatedly; and, in order to stimulate him to the journey 
without gainsay, represented to him, that he would find 
him dangerously sick, and cherishing a longing desire 
to see him once more. Deeply affected, Gregory pre- 
pared himself for the journey. His lively imagination 
already pictured to him the form of his dying friend, 
and consoled him by suggesting monumental inscrip- 
tions in honour of the deceased. How astonished must 
he have been on hearing, soon after, that Basil was by 
no means seriously unwell! Notwithstanding all his 
friendly regard, as it were, a flash of suspicion shot 
through the mind of Gregory, that Basil wished to decoy 
him to Caesarea by a false pretence, in order that his 



CHAP. VIII.] BISHOP OF C^SAREA. 117 

election to the bishopric might be assisted by the 
zealous assistance of his friend. He therefore gave up 
all thought of the journey, and wrote his friend a letter 1 
full of strong reproofs, in which he charged him plainly 
with dishonesty and folly; and he reminds him that he, 
Gregory, could not lawfully have taken part in the 
choice of a bishop. This epistle seems to have been too 
passionately written, since it is hardly credible that 
Basil should have entirely feigned an illness. It is pro- 
bable, however, that he gave an exaggerated description 
of his almost always sickly condition. But was it really 
from ambitious views'? — certainly the suspicion, which 
even his friend entertained, attaches to him. 

Gregory, in thus withholding himself from all inter- 
ference in the election of the bishop, followed the law of 
church order, of decorum, and of prudence. He even 
advised Basil to retire from the tumultuary excitement 
of the metropolis at the decisive moment. Meanwhile, 
however, he exerted himself indirectly for Basil, by the 
eloquent letters which he wrote in the name of his father 
to the clergy and laity of Csesarea. 2 The elder Gregory, 
as a bishop of the province, was justly entitled to take 
a part in the choice of the metropolitan, but he felt him- 
self too weak, from sickness and the infirmities of old 
age, to attend in person at the place of election. As, 
however, he felt interested for Basil in a high degree, 
he caused his voice and wishes to be heard, through his 
son, in two public missives. In the one 3 he says to the 
inhabitants of Csesarea — i If I am not able, overcome as 
I am by sickness, to attend at the election, yet will I 



1 Epist. 21, p. 784, with which compare Orat. xliii. 39, p. 800. 

2 Greg. Epist. 22, 23, pp. 785, 786. 

3 Epist. 22, al. 18, p. 785. 



118 CONDUCT OF THE ELDER [SECT. II. 

contribute thereto as much as at this distance is prac- 
ticable. I am well satisfied that there are others, also, 
who are worthy to preside over a Church so distinguished, 
and so admirably managed from the first ; but there is 
one whom I must prefer to all others, one who is 
already so highly esteemed by yourselves, so beloved of 
God — our son, the presbyter Basilius, a man (I call God 
to witness) of unspotted life and sound doctrine j who, 
either alone of all the candidates, or at least very pre- 
eminently, is in both respects qualified to stand firm 
against the tendencies of the present time, and to con- 
tend against the prevailing false doctrines. I write this 
to the clergy, to the monks, and to those who are 
invested with high dignities, and members of the 
council, as well as to all the people.' In the other 
epistle, 1 addressed to the electing bishops, and of similar 
contents, he, however, remarks that, at their urgent 
request, he would even come to Caesarea, especially if 
he might presume to hope that their choice also would 
fall upon Basil. Having learnt soon after that, for the 
regular election of a bishop, the personal attendance 
of one more bishop was required, the old man actually 
tore himself from his sick-bed, and caused himself, in 
spite of his half-dead body, to be conveyed to Caesarea. 2 
He thereby very considerably promoted the elevation of 
Basil to the episcopate, and then returned to Xazianzum, 
strengthened by the effects of the journey, and the grati- 
fication of having succeeded in his object. When he 
set out from home, it was necessary to raise him, like a 
corpse, into the carriage; but when he came back, he 



1 Epist. 23, al. 19, p. 786. 

2 Greg. Orat. xviii. 36, p. 357 ; Orat. xliii. 37, p. 799. 



CHAP. VIII.] AND YOUNGER GREGORY. 119 

sat upright, with cheerful eye, full of renovated, youthful 
strength. It is not, however, to be denied that, in the 
whole proceeding, the son conducted himself more cor- 
rectly and prudently than the somewhat too-vehement, 
over-zealous father. 

A certain degree of mistrust had already, during 
Basil's election, insinuated itself between the hitherto- 
devoted friends. Basil might imagine that his friend 
had not done everything for the promoting of his eleva- 
tion, which the duty of friendship seemed to require ; and 
Gregory suspected that he had been dishonestly treated 
by Basil. After Basil's election, Gregory wrote him a 
congratulatory letter l — a friendly letter certainly, but 
somewhat cool, compared with former letters. He therein 
informs the newly-elected bishop, that he would not 
visit him as yet, that he might not seem to obtrude him- 
self upon him, and so provoke envy, (both of them 
having already to put up with envy and enemies enough,) 
and also least it should be thought that Basil intended 
to assemble all his friends and adherents about him. 2 
When, however, Gregory soon after heard that Basil 
was already involved in difficulties and disputes, (pro- 
bably with the temporal authorities, 3 who acted agreeably 
to the wishes of the Arian emperor,) he again wrote to 
him with the heartiness of old times, and promised him 



1 Epist. 24, al. 25, p. 787. 

2 Gregory expresses himself in pretty much the same terms on 
this occasion, in Or at. xliii. 39, p. 801. 

3 The opponents with whom Basil had to do were designated 
as Kparovvreg, men in authority. Under that term probably is 
to be understood, generally, the dominant Arian party. Gregory- 
says: TrvvSavofxai ge — TrQayfiara 'i%uv cltto rtvog GotyiOTitcriQ tujv 
KparovvTUJV icai gvvtjSovq 7T£pi£pyiac' Kal SavjJiacjTbv ovdsv' ovde 
yap i]yv6ovv top (pOovov, k. r. X. 



120 CONDUCT OF THE ELDER [SECT. IT. 

an early visit, in order either to give him counsel and 
consolation, or at least to be a sympathizing witness of 
his patience and courageous efforts. 1 

Nevertheless, the good understanding between them 
was not thereby fully re-established ; rather, an occasion 
now first arose" for a still more painful interruption of 
it. The province of Cappadocia had hitherto formed a 
whole, as well in civil as in ecclesiastical relations ; the 
chief civil officer was, ordinarily, the imperial deputy, 
residing in Csesarea; the first ecclesiastic, the bishop of 
Csesarea. About this time the Emperor Valens divided 
Cappadocia into two provinces, one of which had Csesarea, 
and the other Tyana, for its chief city. 2 Anthimus, the 
bishop of Tyana, a worldly-minded, ambitious man, laid 
claim to the same ecclesiastical dignity as was granted 



, 25, al. 26, p. 788. 
2 Cappadocia had hitherto formed one province, which again, 
according to an ancient distribution, originating with the Cappa- 
docian kings, was subdivided into six strategies, or military 
governments. Valens, from financial motives (a.d. 371), divided 
the country into two provinces, Cappadocia Prima et Secunda. As 
to the strategies, we hear no more of them. Csesarea continued 
the chief city of the First Cappadocia : the capital of the Second 
became Tyana, the largest Cappadocian city next to Csesarea, and 
celebrated as the birth-place of the thaumaturge, Apollonius. 
The old city of Csesarea (once distinguished, under the name of 
Mazaka, as the seat of government under the Cappadocian kings, 
and still, even now, the most respectable city of the country, under 
the name of Kaiserie) must naturally have suffered severely in 
having ceased to be the capital of the whole province. The 
inhabitants therefore, though without success, applied to the 
government through their bishop, Basil, to put a stop to this 
separation. Basil. M. EpisL, 74, 15, 76, p. 168 et seq. As far as 
concerns the ecclesiastical division, Basil might with more reason 
have appealed to the hitherto -existing constitution of the Cappa- 
docian Church, with the view of continuing in the ecclesiastical 
possession of the whole province ; since it was by no means 
necessary that every political metropolis should also become an 
ecclesiastical one. 



CHAP. YIII.] AXD YOUXGER GREGORY. 121 

to Csesarea, and declared himself to be the legitimate 
Metropolitan of the Second Cappadocia, Basil, the 
bishop of Csesarea, on the other hand, wonld not give 
up aught of his ancient rights, and insisted that the civil 
division of the province could not properly be applied to 
ecclesiastical relations. (Greg. Or at. xliii. 58, p. 813.) 
During the melancholy contentions 1 about this point, 
(which occasionally degenerated, on the part of Anthi- 



1 It might be presumed that, in these disputes between An- 
thimus and Basil, Arianism and Catholicism also came into play. 
But it is a question, first of all, whether Anthimus was an Arian. 
And, singularly enough, he is with the same confidence called an 
Arian by Le Clerc (Bill. Univers. t. xviii. p. 60), as he is described 
as a Catholic by Baronius (Acta Sanctor. Maj., t. ii. p. 394.) Qui 
(Anthimus) licet se Catholicum esse profiteretur, tamen nullius 
frugi vir erat. Neither of these learned men adduces any grounds 
for his opinion. We must therefore endeavour to deduce a right 
conclusion from Gregory's expressions. If we consider, then, for 
this purpose, the principal passage in Greg. Orat. xliii. 58, 
pp. 813, 814, we might, at first sight, suppose it favoured Le 
Clerc's opinion ; since Gregory relates, that many bishops went 
over from Basil to Anthimus because they did not harmonize in 
their convictions with the former (rtfi r?)g wiffTEwc Xoyy) ; and 
Anthimus himself, on the occasion of his withholding certain 
revenues belonging to Basil, observed : ' we ought not to pay 
tribute to heretics (/x?) \pr\vai da(jfjLo<pope1v kcikocoZoic).' But we 
must not overlook — 1st, that it is nowhere explained why An- 
thimus and his party considered Basil heterodox ; 2ndly, may it 
not probably have been, because (particularly in relation to the 
dogma of the Holy Ghost) he did not seem to them perfectly and 
logically of Xicene orthodoxy ? To their hyper-orthodoxy Basil 
might not have been orthodox enough (compare Gregor. Naz. 
Fjjist. 26, pp. 788, 789) .; 3rdly, Gregory himself affirms, that the 
dogma and the care for the salvation of the soul served only for a 
pretext, while the real motives of the dispute on the side of 
Anthimus had been ambition and avarice ; 4thly, had Anthimus 
been opposed to Basil because he (Anthimus) was an Arian, 
Gregory would hardly have omitted to mention this expressly, 
since he never wholly passes over, in his autobiography, anything 
that relates to the Arian contest ; othly, some years later, after 
the settling of these ecclesiastical differences, Basil again entered 
into friendly relations with Anthimus (Basil. M. Epist. 210, 
p. 316), which he never would have done with an Arian ; — all 



122 GREGORY BECOMES [SECT. II. 

rnus, 1 into acts of violence and robbery,) Basil, in order 
to assert by the act his metropolitan claim, and to 
strengthen his party, instituted several new bishoprics 
in the smaller cities of Cappadocia ; among others, in the 
little town of Sasima, situated between JSTazianzum and 
Tyana, thirty-two miles from the former place, not quite 
so far from the latter, and properly belonging to the pro- 
vince of Tyana. This new bishopric now actually became 
a stone of offence in its influence on the friendship of 
Basil and Gregory. 



CHAPTEE IX. 

GREGORY BECOMES BISHOP OF SASDfA ; AND AFTERWARDS 
COADJUTOR TO HIS FATHER AT NAZIANZUM. 

Basil had fifty bishops* under him; to one of these 
of the lowest pretensions, or to some more unimportant 
presbyter, he might have transferred the new bishopric f 



these considerations make it highly probable to me that Anthimus 
was not an Arian. 

1 Greg. Epist. 31, al. 22, p. 796, where it would seem that the 
language is not to be taken as a mere metaphor, when Gregory 
denominates Anthimus as 'ApjjioQ (warlike), and assures him that 
* he, for his part, had no desire to carry weapons, or wage war.' 
To this he adds : r)filv ce dvrl ttclvtlov £ovvai n)v i}avxiav. ri 
yap ca ^a^E^ai Trepi ya\a$r]vu>v, Kal opviStov, fcai rovro a\\o- 
Tpitov cog crjra ~epi \bvx&v *«« kcivovlov; Gregory (Orat. xliii. 58, 
p. 814) relates a decided case were Anthimus (under the pretence 
that we ought to pay no tributes to heretics) sequestrated the 
revenues of Basil, which had been brought to Cassarea through the 
province of Tyana, on their way from the mountain -range of 
Taurus ; and that, at the same time, he took possession by force 
and robbery of the mule belonging to Basil. 

* In the German, ' Landbischofe' — country or rural bishops, 
like the %wp6;n'o-/co7roc, subsequently mentioned. — Translator. 

2 Greg. Car m. de Ylt. sua, line 437 : 

TOVTOLQ (SC IcKjiflOLC) \L 6 7TEVTT]K0VTa ^WpfTrtC/COTTOfC 
1l7EV0V[JIEV0Q diCLOKB 



CHAP. IX.] BISHOP OF SASIMA. 123 

for the appointment was of a kind which seemed suited to 
an individual who could not possibly have any claims or 
expectations elsewhere. Independent of the fact, that 
the little town was a bone of contention between the two 
chief bishops of Cappadocia, it was most disagreeably 
situated, in a melancholy, arid, waterless tract of country. 
In this unproductive neighbourhood, men breathed every- 
where only dust. Three high roads here crossed each 
other, a circumstance which brought thither troops of 
waggoners and soldiers, and, consequently, incessant noise 
and quarrelling. l Of the inhabitants of this little town 
very few were, properly speaking, domiciled there ; the 
greatest number, as waggoners and the like, led a 



1 Such is the picture given us by Gregory Nazianzen himself, 
Carm. de Vita sua, 1. 439, 446, pp. 7, 8 ; and by Gregory 
Presbyter, in Vita Gregor. Naz. p. 139, of the situation and cir- 
cumstances of Sasima. The former says : 

'EraSfibg rig lariv kv fisarj Xeiocpop^ 

Trig ica7rTTadoKU)V, bg tfY/'^r' Etc Tpiaar\v bdov. 

"Avvdpog, dxXovg, ov doXwg sXsvSepog, (ovd' 6\ujg ? Trans.) 

Ativ&g direvKTov Kai arevbv Kojfivdptov. 

Kovig rd 7rdvra, Kai \po<poi, aw cipfxaai, 

Opqvoi, arsvayfioi, 7rpdicTopeg, arp'tfiXai, 7rscai, 

Aabg $' oaoi Zsvoi re Kai 7rXavoj[ievoi. 

Avtj] *2aai{iu)v tGjv ejiibv EKKXrjaia. 
Gregory Presbyter thus describes Sasima: 7rpbg de Kai rb xupiov, 
rd Sactjua Xsyu), ijv avrtp aveirirrjdeiov, ola Z,dXng re Kai dariKtbv 
$opvj3tov 7TE7rXr]pwp.svov' Xeii)(p6pov ydg fldaiXiKrjg fisaov Knifxevov 
Kai tov drifioaiov dpofjiov e\ov rd Xizirorsraaia Sovelrai roig 
Trapovci, TToXXijv fikv av'iav <pepov roXg yavx^oig, diToXavcnv de i] 
totp'eXeiav* ovde rr\v rvxovaav ayjtlbv izapi\b\xi.vov. Sasima was 
twenty-four miles, or a moderate day's journey, from Nazianzum; 
thirty-two from Tyana, or a very long day's journey. — Itiner. 
Antonini, p. 144; Itinerar. Hieros., p. 577. It was about the 
same distance from Csesarea. Paul Lucas, an European traveller, 
at the beginning of the eighteenth century, thinks that the 
modern city of Ingesu (Inschesu) — a city with a respectable 
citadel, and some important remains of antiquity — occupies the 
site of the ancient Sasima. See Mannert's Geogr. of the Gi'eeks 
and Romans, vol. vi. 2nd part, pp. 269, 270. 



124 GREGORY BECOMES [SECT. II. 

wandering sort of life. They would therefore probably 
be persons on whom spiritual labourers could not hope 
to make much impression. And, lastly (as Gregory 
does not omit to mention), 1 the revenues of this wretched 
place were so limited, that a bishop might not always 
have been in a condition to exercise the virtues of 
benevolence and hospitality, so essential to his character. 
Now in this melancholy place Basil wished to place 
his friend Gregory, though he had always declined to 
accept any ecclesiastical office, 2 and at all events might 
have been thought worthy (according to ordinary judg- 
ment) of a more respectable bishopric. Could Basil, 
after having reached the summit of spiritual power 
in his native city, have intended, in this offer, to mortify 
a little the friend of his youth, for not having supported 
him, according to his wishes, at the critical moment of 
the episcopal election? Gregory certainly so took it. 
He saw in this conduct of Basil unfriendly pride and 
spiritual arrogance, 3 and could not for a long time 
entirely forgive him, for obtruding upon him this in- 
significant bishopric. 4 The new Metropolitan of Csesarea 
had, however, other, though not very reasonable motives 
for forcing his friend, above all others, into this appoint- 



1 Oarm. de Vit. sua, 1. 468, p. 8. 

2 Basil, on his first meeting with his friend Gregory as Bishop 
of Csesarea, had offered him the first place among his presbyters 
— ty)v TuJv 7rps(rf3vTsp<xJV 7TpoTifii]<Jtv, but Gregory had declined it. 
— Gregor. Orat. xliii. 39, p. 801. 

3 Greg. Epist. 31, al. 22, p. 795. He says, among other things, 
to Basil : ' I see the motive of this proceeding, in your transferring 
me to the episcopal chair, which has at once placed you above 
me. He then remarks that Basil's conduct was generally and 
severely censured. Some strong expressions on the part of 
Gregory on this point occur in Epist. 33, al. 24, p. 797- 

4 Gregor. Oarm. de Vit. sua, lines 386 — 486, pp. 7, 8. 



CHAP. IX.] BISHOP OF SASIMA. 125 

merit. It was one of the places, about the spiritual 
supervision of which the Bishops of Csesarea and Tyana 
were contending ; and Basil, doubtless, thought he could 
not maintain his rights more certainly than by placing 
in this post a highly respected individual, and entirely 
devoted to his interests. For this purpose, Gregory 
seemed to him the best qualified. So far was he from 
wishing to mortify his friend in this matter, or looking 
upon it in that light, that he rather considered Gregory's 
conduct in resisting his requisition as an instance of 
wilful coldness and indolence. 1 Thus the two friends 
were for a long time estranged, whilst neither of them 
was sufficiently self-denying to enter candidly into the 
views and motives of the other. 

Basil actually came to Nazianzum for the purpose of 
consecrating Gregory as Bishop of Sasima. 2 The united 
entreaties of his father and his friend at length overcame 
Gregory, and he accepted the appointment, disagreeable 
as it was to him. The discourse which he delivered on 
this occasion (probably in the church at Nazianzum), in 
the presence of his father and several other bishops, 
begins with these words : — c Once more in the rite of 
consecration has the Holy Spirit been poured out upon 
me, and once more I enter upon my calling sad and 
downcast.' He then confesses that the call of the Spirit 
had terrified rather than cheered him, and that he might 
have required some time to recover from the surprise. 
He was ready, however, to surrender himself to the 



1 Gregor. Epist. 32, al. 23, p. 796: 'EyicaXug ijfitv apyiav 
Kal paSvfiiav, on /i?} rd ad ^dai/xa K<iTEi\r}<paiAtv, pride kiria- 
kottwq KivovjieSa Compare also Gregorys 31st and 32nd Episb, 
pp. 795—797, in relation to the whole matter. 

2 Greg. Carm. de Vita sua, line 386, p. 7. 



126 HIS RESIGNATION [SECT. II. 

demands of the Spirit, and would devote himself entirely 
to promote the benefit of the community. 1 

The untoward circumstances under which Gregory 
was appointed bishop of Sasima soon showed their 
natural result. Anthimus of Tyana would not acknow- 
ledge the election, and expressed himself with much 
harshness against Gregory. He even came thereupon 
to Nazianzuin, attended by some bishops, under the 
pretence of visiting Gregory the father, but, in fact, to 
bring over the son, by soft or harsh words, by flattery, 
or by threats, to acknowledge him as his metropolitan. 
But Anthimus was obliged to give up the matter as a 
failure, and was in such a state of irritation at his de- 
parture, that he reproached the younger Gregory as a 
traitor to the interests of the Church. 2 Still, at last, 
Anthimus wished to make use of him as a mediator 
between him and Basil, by consenting to which, Gregory 
again got into difficulties with Basil; so that the un- 
fortunate bishop of Sasima could at last find no escape, 
till, full of disgust at these ecclesiastical irregularities 



1 Orat. ix. pp. 234 — 238. Among other things, Gregory, at 
p. 237, even says : ovk ette'kjSyjjjlev, dXV EpidaSrifjiEv, we were 
not persuaded, but forced. Among his Orations, Nos. 9, 10, 11 
relate principally to his temporary Bishopric of Sasima. In the 
10th Orat. § 4, p. 241, is an interesting passage on the usage of 
episcopal consecration : Aid tovto (he says to Basil, who con- 
secrated him,) erg (jlegov dyEig, icai vTrox^povvTog XafijBdvy, Kai 
izapd atavrbv Ka&iZ,Eig' — did tovto XP (£tc dpxiEpsa, Kai Trepi- 
fidXXeig tov irodr)prj, Kai TrepiTiSrjg ty)v Kidapiv, Kai Trpovdyeig 
Tip SvGiacrTriplq) Trjg 7rvEvfJiaTiKr)g oXoKav twctewc, Kai Sveig tov 
li6ff%ov Ti)g TEXeiLOGEiog, teal TeXsiolg Tag xapctc tl^ irvevfian, 
Kai Eiaayeig tig Ta ciyia tlov dyiiov ETToirTEvaovTa, 

2 Greg. Epist. 33, p. 797- Gregory thus describes the result 
of this undertaking on the part of Anthimus : TtXcg, aTrrjXSev 
dirpaKTog, 7roXXd 7rspi7rvEvcrag, Kai BaaiXivfjibv rjfjilv, (og (piXnr- 
TTiGiibv syKaXsaag, Just as, in Greece, men accused certain indi- 
viduals, and even the Delphic Oracle, of being gaioed over by 



UHAP. IX.] OF THE BISHOPKIC. 127 

and divisions, lie made his escape into solitary retire- 
ment. 

It is indeed a matter of doubt whether Gregory ever 
actually betook himself to Sasima, and entered upon the 
discharge of episcopal duties there. It is nowhere ex- 
pressly mentioned. 1 And, in point of fact, a doubt may 
be entertained as to the validity of the election, inas- 
much as it rested upon Basil alone, and had not received 
full power and sanction, either from a declaration of the 
provincial bishops, or from the christian community at 
Sasima. 

It is generally assumed that the only reason for 
which Gregory gave up this bishopric was mortified 
ambition; and he himself has given occasion for this 
view of his conduct, while he speaks so contemptuously 
of Sasima, as if it were quite beneath his dignity to go 
thither as bishop; certainly a very un-evangelical senti- 
ment, if it were the sole motive of his evasion. Let us 
not, however, overlook his solemn asseverations, that, 
from his deeply-rooted inclination to a calm, contem- 



bribes to the party of Philip of Macedon, and against the interests 
of the free fatherland ; so here Anthinms charges Gregory with 
treason to the rights of the Church from partiality to Basil. The 
former conduct was called Philippizing (^iXL7riri^etv, 3>tAi7r7n 07x6c) 
— the latter, by analogy, Basillzing (BacnXiZaiv, Bao-iXifr/xoc). In 
like manner were formed other Greek words of older and later 
date — e.g. KvipeXiZeiv, KaGcirdpi^eiv, AvnyovlZsiv, "StXeVKiZsiv. 
Consult, on this point, Valkenarii, Orat. iii. ; Lugd., Batav. 1784, 
p. 254 et seq ; Beiskii, Inex Grcecit ; Demosth. p. 785 et seq. 

1 The following passage in his Carm. de Vita sua (line 530, 
p. 9), seems rather to prove just the contrary : 

Tt)c fJikv doSeicnjc; ov SoXujq sKic\7]<jiaQ* 

Hpo(ja'<pa[jLr)v, ovd' oggov Xarpeiav fiiav 

Hpocrsvsyicuv, rj GWtvZacrSai \a<£, 

"H %apa Sslvai kXtjoikwv kvl ye rep. 

* Here again I suggest ov<5' 6X5? instead of ov d6\as and irpoan^di-Lnv 
instead of TrpocreTi/a/irjv. — Translator. 



128 HE BECOMES COADJUTOR [SECT. II. 

plative life, he at that time experienced an inward 
opposition when he thought of undertaking an ecclesias- 
tical office, with all its various duties; an opposition 
which, in this case, must have amounted almost to a 
feeling of horror, when he reflected that that office would 
at the same time involve him in the disputes of two 
jealous bishops. This disinclination towards ecclesias- 
tical, active employment, ought not to be called mere 
indolence: a fondness for solitude and contemplation 
was innate in him, and had been confirmed by education. 
He might, perhaps, have overcome it, had not the pre- 
vailing idea of the age at the same time pointed out to 
him the life which so entirely harmonized with his 
natural bias, as also the most honourable and the holiest. 
And, lastly, we at least may ask : Was not Gregory, 
then, worthy of a more distinguished post than this 
poor, unquiet bishopric, doomed as it was to be an apple 
of discord % Could he not work more effectively at some 
other place than at a mere outpost against Anthimus, 
among the rough inhabitants of Sasima % 

From this see of Sasima, Gregory had escaped to a 
solitary mountain range. 1 His father persecuted him 
with most urgent entreaties to take possession of the 
post assigned to him. The son steadily resisted. 2 But 
when now his aged father suppliantly besought him to 
come to Nazianzum, and share the episcopal duties there 



1 This lie tells us in Carm. de Vit. sua, line 490, p. 8 : 

UdXiv (pvyaq tlq ko.1 dpofJLcuog elg opog, 
KXkitTwv (piXrjv eiairav, evrpvcprjij,' \\iov. 
On the contrary, Gregory Presbyter (in his Life of Greg. Naz., 
p. 139) says that he took refuge in a (ppovriffrrfpiov da^evCjv, 
What historical grounds he had for this we have no means of 
judging, though both declarations are capable of being reconciled. 

2 Carm. de Vit. sua, line 495, p. 8. 



CHAP. IX.] TO HIS FATHER. 129 

with him, Gregory could no longer resist the appeal of 
paternal love. 1 His presence was the more necessary to 
his father, since, under the rule of Talens (who, shortly 
before, had made a violent attack on the orthodox 
Churches 2 of those eastern parts), there was so much of 
struggle and contention. 3 Gregory therefore (a.d. 372) 
returned to his old connexions, and at his entrance into 
the Church there, delivered a remarkable oration, which 
very clearly represents to us his then tone of thought : 
' Come to my assistance,' he says to his audience, ' for I 



1 Carm. de Vita sua. lines 497 — 525, pp. 8, 9. 

2 Cappadocia, under the influence of distinguished teachers, 
remained true to the Xicene creed, so that Gregory could say 
with reason, that that country was generally regarded as a pillar 
of the faith (iriarewQ epei(j^a). — Carm. adv. Episc., 1. 94, p. 12. 

3 Yalens, after he had already succeeded too well, made a very 
remarkable attack (towards the end of the year 371) upon the 
orthodox Churches of Cappadocia, especially upon the chief city, 
Csesarea, in order forcibly to compel them to adopt the Arian 
creed. He feared to encounter a specially powerful resistance 
from the courage and zeal of Basil, and had therefore put off the 
struggle with him to the last. "We have some interesting accounts 
of this contest (though previously requhing much critical correc- 
tion) from the pens of eye-witnesses, and they agree in showing 
that Basil at last came off victorious. Gregory of Nazianz. 
{Orat. xliii. 47, p. 805 et seq.), Gregory of Xyssa (advers. Eunorii., 
lib. i. t. ii. p. 313), and, with some variation, Theodoret, iv. 19 : 
Socrates, iv. 26 ; Sozomenus, vi. 16. Although Gregory was at 
Csesarea during this contest, and helped to support his friend, 
yet no particular details of his exertions at that time are preserved 
to us. He only tells us that, when Talens had signed the order 
for the banishment of Basil, (which order, however, was never 
carried into execution,) he was prepared to accompany his friend 
into exile. — Orat. xliii. 54, p. 809. The narrative, as a whole, 
belongs certainly to the Life of Basil, and forms one of the 
brightest parts thereof. As Yalens was on his march to Csesarea, 
or on his return from it, he tried to gain the upper hand for 
Arianism at Xazianzum also ; but he encountered a vigorous 
resistance there also, on the part of the elder and the younger 
Gregory. Unfortunately, this is only touched upon in general 
terms by Gregory. — Orat. xviii. 37, p. 358. 



130 Gregory's remarkable oration, [sect. it. 

am almost torn in pieces by an inward longing, struggling 
with the call of the Spirit. That longing urges me to 
flight, to the solitude of the mountains, to repose of soul 
and body, to the withdrawal of the mind from all objects 
of sense, and to a retirement into myself, in order to 
converse uninterruptedly with God, and to be thoroughly 

penetrated by the bright beams of his Spirit But 

his Holy Spirit strives to bring me into active life, in order 
to promote the common good, and promote my own 
interest by promoting that of others, to spread the light 
of the Gospel, and to bring unto God * sl peculiar people 
(Titus, ii. 14), a holy nation, a royal priesthood' 
(1 Peter, ii. 9), and to restore in many his image in 
renovated purity. For as a whole garden is more than 
a single plant; as the whole heaven, with all its beauties, 
is more glorious than one only star, and the whole body 
is superior to one of its members — so also, before God, 
the whole well-regulated Church is better than a well- 
ordered individual; and we ought always ' to mind not 
only our own things, but also the things of others.' 
This is what Christ himself has done, who, though he 
might have continued in the enjoyment of his own 
dignity in his divine nature, not only lowered himself to 
the form of a servant, but also, despising the shame, 
submitted to death upon the cross, that by his passion 
he might blot out our sins, and by his death destroy 
death.' In the sequel of the discourse, the orator 
explains how it seems to him the safest way to allow 
something to that longing after contemplative solitude, 
and yet to follow the suggestions of that Spirit which 
had stirred him up, and was drawing him to the duties 
of active life. With this view, he would neither shun 
altogether the holy service of the Church, nor yet take 



CHAP. X.] CAREER OF HIS BROTHER. 131 

on himself a burthen which his shoulders might not be 
able to bear. He therefore professes himself ready to 
share the superintendence of the Church with his father; 
while he modestly adds, that he would endeavour to 
follow the path of that powerful, high- soaring eagle, as 
became a not dissimilar descendant. 



CHAPTER X. 

MISFORTUXES IN THE FAMILY OF GREGORY. 

The thread of the narrative has thus far been purposely 
continued, in order that the occurrences just related might 
stand in their true and unbroken connexion. But we 
must now again turn back our view, and, for the sake 
of completeness, fill up some omissions in his family 
history. We have to say something, first of all, respect- 
ing the brother of Gregory. 

CaBsarius had, as we have related, retired from court 
to the bosom of his family, on Julian's commencement of 
the Persian campaign. After Julian's death, however, he 
returned to the palace, and was loaded with honours by 
the two successive emperors, Jovian and Valens. 1 The 
latter even gave him a state appointment, probably the 
treasurership of Bithynia. 2 The city of Xicaea, where he 



1 Greg. Orat. vii. 14, p. 207. 

2 Gregory thus expresses himself on the occasion : Acer pips 
fikv Iv ttj BiSvvCjv, ri]v ov TroWoGTrjv curb ^aaikkojq cisttlov 
dpxW' >? ££ V v TafAisveiv j3affi\si rd xpr\\Lara, kcli tujv Sijcrav- 
pujv lx ilv T iJ v sTrifisXEiav. — Orat. vii. 15, p. 207. Gothofredus 
and Tillemont have both made farther researches concerning the 
office held by Csesarms. See, by the latter, Memoir., p. 5, a VHis- 
toire Ecdes., t. ix. p. 700 et seq., and Fabricius, Bibl. Gr., vol. viii. 
p. 436, edit. Harl. 

K 2 



132 MISFORTUNES IX THE [SECT. II. 

resided, was (a.d. 368) visited, and in a great measure 
destroyed, by a fearful earthquake, the most violent 
that had ever been remembered. Caesarius was one of 
the few inhabitants who saved their lives, yet not 
without personal injury and a considerable loss of 
property. 1 Gregory and Basil took advantage of this 
occasion to persuade one so dear to them, and one who 
had just been delivered from impending death, to re- 
nounce a worldly life and the service of the State 
altogether, and to live in retirement for his soul's health 
only. 2 Caesarius also felt convinced that divine aid had 
rescued him from the danger, and resolved to devote 
the rest of his life to the God who had protected him. 
But soon after, as he was intending to return into 
private life, in order to carry out that resolution, a 
mortal sickness surprised him. in the year 368, or in 
the beginning of 369. 2 He had, however, been baptized 
shortly before his death. Gregory lost in his brother 
an affectionate friend, and had been, in return, reve- 
renced by Caesarius as a father. 3 They had been reci- 
procally serviceable to each other : Caesarius had always 
removed as much as possible from Gregory the cares 
and troubles of external life ; and, in his turn, received 
from him higher and spiritual benefits, The pain 



1 (hut. vii. 15. p. 207. Carmen de Reb. suis. line 174, p. 34. 
Xprjfiara 8 9 oaar STrsararo, ra fdv \afie yala x a vovG<x* 
TfiKdiTjQ (3pa<Tpo7(Jiv or fjpiTrev, k. t. X. 

3 Gregor. Epist. 19, al. 50, p. 778. Basil. M. Fpisf. 26, iii. 

p. 105. 

3 Orat. vii. 15, p. 208. 



* As eTrea-Taro will not scan, it was probably written ocraa bsraro a from 
KTaofxai. — Translator. 



CHAP. X.] FAMILY OF GREGORY. 133 

which the death of Csesarius occasioned Gregory 1 was 
heightened still more by the circumstances which 
attended it. The unmarried CaBsarius had bequeathed 
all his property, probably of considerable value, to the 
poor. 2 Gregory, when he wished to execute his 
brother's last wishes, found that certain artful persons 
had gotten possession of the property. He complains 
. thereof very touchingly in an epistle (among others) 
addressed to the governor, Sophronius, 3 of whom he 
demands help and justice. i The excellent and accom- 
plished Cassarius/ 4 (he says,) 'who once had so many 
friends, and was also a friend of yours, lies now in death, 



1 He gives strong utterance to this grief in two of his poems — 
Carm. de Vit. sua, line 368, p. 6 ; and Carm de Reb. suis, line 203, 
p. 35. 

2 The will of Ceesarius, as to the disposal of his property, ran 
thus : ra ifia TtavTa iSovXo^iai ywtaSrai tGjv 7rraj^;w^. 

3 Epist. xviii. al. 32, p. 718. 

4 It is well known that a collection of theological and philo- 
sophical questions, in four dialogues, (Dialogi iv. sire Qucestiones 
Tkeolog. et Philosophy cxlv.,) is attributed to Caesarius, who, accord- 
ing to the testimony of his brother Gregory, (see particularly 
Gregor. Carm. 58, in Muratorii Anecdot. Gr., p. 53,) was not only 
a distinguished physician, but also a man of general scientific 
information. The book is still in existence, being printed in the 
Latin edition of Gregory's Works, by Leunclave and Billius ; in 
Latin, in the Auctuarium Biblioth. Pair., Paris, 1624 ; in Greek 
and Latin, edited by Fronto Ducseus ; and several times since 
(e.g. Biblioth. Pair., Paris, 1644; torn. xi.). Now, although 
Suidas (sub voce, Kato-apioc) mentions Csesarius as the author of 
a work, tzara 'EWyjvojv, and Photius {B'tbl. Cod. 210) still more 
decidedly ascribes the celebrated theological and philosophical 
questions to him, yet most critical inquirers of a later date have 
agreed in denying, from internal evidence, the claim of Caesarius 
to that work. See Tillemont, Mem., t. ix. p. 701 ; Oudinus in 
Comment, de Scriptor. Eccles. Antiq., torn i. p. 543 ; Cave, Hist. 
Liter., vol. i. p. 249 ; Schroekh, Th. 13, p. 317; and the very 
complete literary notices in Fabricii, Biblioth. Gr., vol. viii. 
p. 435, edit. Harl. A remarkable edition of these Qucestiones 
was published by Elias Ehniger, Augsburg, 1626. 



134 MISFORTUNES IN THE [SECT. II. 

friendless, forsaken, an object of pity, hardly thought 
worthy of a little myrrh, or, if that be bestowed upon 
his corpse, scarcely covered with a miserable shroud. 
Truly it is a great thing, if even thus much of com- 
passion is shown to him ! His enemies, however, have 
(as I hear) fallen upon him, and have violently torn to 
pieces his property among themselves, or are on the point 
of doing so ; and there is no one to restrain them. I 
beseech you, then, do not tolerate such doings, but 
rather share in our grief and anger, and approve yourself 
as indeed a friend of the deceased Caesarius !' What 
effects this epistle produced, as, indeed, what was the 
general issue of the affair, is J unknown to us. 1 

When, at a subsequent time, the earthly remains of 
Caesarius were transferred to the tombs of the martyrs, 
even his mother, Xonna, joined the procession, not in 
robes of mourning, but in the white garments of festive 
joy. 2 She thus acknowledged the christian import of 
death as a birth into a higher state of existence, and 
drowned her grief in holy songs and psalms. For the 
alleviation of his own grief, and in order to honour the 
memory of the deceased, Gregory, on this occasion, 
dedicated to his brother a laudatory oration, 3 from which 
we extract some of those passages which, perhaps, gave 
especial occasion for the honour paid to Ca?sarius as one 
of the saints. 4 He vows to his brother's nieniorv an 



1 Farther notices of this occur in Tillernont's Mernoires powr 
servir a VHist. Ecdes., book ix. p. 377 et seq. 

2 Orat. vii. 15, p. 208 wrpbg XafiTrpotpopla t$ -azsi 

TYfv stjcrsfSsLav dvrsi(Tayov<77]C .... 

8 It is the 7th Oration (so often already quoted), at p. 198 to 
p. 216 of the Benedictine edition. See, moreover, Gregory's 
Poem, addressed to his brother, in Muratori's Grcec. Anecd., p. 49. 

4 Not our Gregory alone, but also all the members of his family, 
were honoured by the Catholic Church as saints. The Greek 






CHAP. X.] FAMILY OF GREGORY. 135 

annual festival, so long as any one of the family should 
live ; and then proceeds : ' ' But thou, holy and 
heavenly spirit, canst walk at large in heaven, and repose 
in that bosom of Abraham, in which that intermediate 
happiness consists. Thou art permitted to see the well- 
ordered ranks of angels, and the radiant splendour of 
departed saints; or rather, thou canst thyself join their 
joyous choirs, and rejoice with them, looking down with 
a smile upon all things here below; upon the so-called 
riches of the world, its cast-off honours, its delusive 
glory; upon the seductive pleasures of sense; upon the 
stormy scene of life, with its confusion and uncertainty, 
like a battle by night; upon all this thou canst smile, 
while thou standest by the side of the great King, and 
art illuminated by the light which beameth forth from 
Him. that even here we might catch some slight 
ray from that divine light (as far as can be seen in this 
frail mirror and its faint representations) till we one day 
attain to the source of eternal good, and with purged 
sense recognising the pure truth, shall there receive that 



Church keeps the anniversary of Gregory, as one of her chief 
saints, on the 25th of January. The Latin Church departed 
capriciously therefrom, while it celebrated his memory, now on 
the 11th, now on the 13th of January, and sometimes on the 19th 
of March, till at last it was transferred to the 9th of May, which 
the Martyrologiurn Romanum also gives as his birthday. The- 
anniversary of his father, Gregory, is on the 1st of January; of 
the mother, Xonna, on the 5th of August ; of Caesarius, on the 
25th of February; of Gorgonia, on the 9th of December. See 
the Acta Sanctor. Major., torn. ii. pp. 369, 370. ^Vould that the 
memory of such a family were honoured as holy in such a sense 
by every one, that he might seek to nourish in himself the truly 
christian spirit which animated them, without being drawn away 
in any relation by the honour thus paid to imperfect human 
virtue, from the holy source of all good — from Him, that is, who 
alone is good ! 

1 Orat. vii. 17, p. 209. 



136 DEATH OF HIS SISTER. [SECT. II. 

more perfect possession, and that purer view of Good, as 
a reward for our pains and efforts in pursuit of it here 
below. For this it is, which the Scriptures and those 
who are most conversant with divine things hold out to 
us as the end and object of our christian initiation.' 1 

About the same time, or somewhat later, Gregory lost 
also his sister Gorgonia, whom in like manner he honoured, 
after her death, with a laudatory oration. 2 He delineates 
to us this diligent housewife and pious Christian in a 
manner entirely resembling the character of his mother. 
We content ourselves (while we refer our readers to the 
more complete description of her in the funeral discourse) 
with giving, in lieu of all else, a short narrative of her 
death, which at once proved how she had walked with 
God. She had long before felt a desire 'to depart and 
be with Jesus.' This longing for death produced in her 
a presentiment of its approach, and (as Gregory relates) 
even a distinct anticipation of the time when it would 
take place. 3 Although her whole life had been a con- 
tinued course of sanctification, yet, according to the 
custom of the age, she did not receive the outward sign 
thereof — baptism — till near the close of her life. When 
the day approached on which she had anticipated her 
death, she prepared herself as for a festival, assembled 
round her bed her husband, her children, and friends, 
and, after cheering conversation upon a better state of 
existence, took leave of them. All of them (even her 
aged mother) stood in silent sorrow round her dying bed. 



1 Orat. vii. 17, p. 209 : 07np Srj rrjg rifierspag TsXog \iva- 

Taywyiag (3i(3\oi re kol ^vxal SeoXoyoi Ss<T7ri%ov<nv. 
" Orat. viii. p. 218 : Etc ttjv adeXtyrjv kavrov Topyoviav Im- 



TCKplOQ. 

» Orat. viii. 19—23, pp. 230—232. 



chap, xi.] Gregory's public life. t 137 

It was as if some holy solemnity were being celebrated. 1 
A spirit of calmness and devotion brooded npon all of 
them. The dying saint seemed no longer to breathe, 
and every one supposed her to be dead. Once more, 
however, her lips moved, and breathed forth, with the 
energy of the spirit, the words of a pious song of praise. 
She died with the words of the fourth Psalm on her 
lips — c I will lay me down in peace, and take my rest.' 2 



CHAPTER XI. 

THE PUBLIC LITE AND LABOUES OF GEEGOEY, AS C0ADJUT0E 
TO HIS FATHEE AT NAZIANZUM. 

Gregory had undertaken the responsibility of acting as 
his father's coadjutor in the episcopal duties, on condition 
that after his father's decease he should again be free 
from those duties. He was very diligent in this office, 
and came forward as an orator on occasions of im- 
portance and difficulty. Many of his addresses at this 
period are extant, and may here be noticed, in order to 
show the various directions in which his exertions were 
applied. 

1 Orat. viii. 22, p. 231 et seq. 

2 Ps. iv. 9. This was also a favourite verse of Luther's, parti- 
cularly towards the close of his life. Matthesius, in his lUh 
Sermon, thus refers to it : — i Luther wrote from Coburg to Ludwig 
Seuffel (an excellent and learned composer), to desire him to com- 
pose for him a good Requiem. Among other things, he tells him 
that he had from his youth a fondness for the concluding verses 
of the fourth Psalm, but that now those words became daily more 
dear to him, because he understood them better, and was hourly 
preparing for death ; . . . . therefore he would gladly sing and hear 
sung that soothing song — ' I lay me down and sleep in perfect 
peace' — 

' Ich lieg und schlafe ganz mit Frieden.' ' 



138 THE PUBLIC LIFE AND [SECT. II. 

One of the first public matters which the new 1 bishop, 
Gregory, transacted, was the introduction of Eulalius in 
the place of an expelled heretical bishop into the see 
of Doare, a little city in the Second Cappadocia. He 
made on this occasion a short but judicious oration, 2 in 
which he especially exhorts to peace and harmony the 
community, which had been agitated by internal com- 
motions, and threatened with evils from without. He 
hopes the best from the exertions of the new bishop, 
whom he describes as an excellent and well-tried pastor, 
while he also prepares him to expect great difficulties. 
Encouraging are the words which he addresses to him : 3 
c Approach now, thou best and most faithful of 
shepherds, and receive thy people with us and for us ; 
thy people, whom the Holy Ghost giveth into thy hand, 
whom the holy angels here lead to thee, and who are 
entrusted to thee because of thy well-approved life. But 
if thou ascendest the episcopal chair through trials and 
obstacles, be not surprised thereat. Nothing great is 
given to us without trial and without suffering. For, 
in the nature of things, that which is low is easy, that 
which is high is difficult to acquire. Thou hast heard it 
said that ' we must through much tribulation enter into 
the kingdom of heaven.' And do thou also say, ' We went 
through fire and water, but Thou broughtest us out and 
refreshedst us.' 4 the wondrous mercy ! ' Weeping may 
endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.' 5 
Let the contentious imagine vain things, and open 



1 He certainly was bishop, and acted as such now, although he 
had never undertaken the administration of his own proper see. 

2 Orat. xiii. pp. 253—255. 

3 Ibid. xiii. 4, p. 254. 

4 Ps. lxvi. 11. 5 Ps. xxx. 5. 



CHAP. XI.] LABOURS OF GREGORY. 139 

their mouths, like dogs who bark at us without cause. 
We will not strive with them. But teach thou to 
worship God the Father, God the Son, and God the 
Holy Ghost, in three persons, of equal honour and 
majesty. ' Seek for them that are lost,' 1 strengthen the 
weak, preserve those who are strong. Take thy chief 
weapons from the armoury of the great leaders of the 
Church, wherewith thou mayest ' quench all the fiery 
darts of the wicked one,' 2 and present unto God ' a 
chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation,' in 
Christ Jesus our Lord.' — 1 Peter, ii. 9. 

This appointment to the Bishopric of Doare was ac- 
companied with some peculiar circumstances. In those 
unquiet times, as we have already seen from many 
examples, the bishops were not always chosen in the 
regular way. Here, also, in a Church that was disturbed 
within and without, from which a (probably) Arian 
bishop had been just ejected, Gregory, and also his 
father (who maintained great authority among the 
Cappadocian bishops), appear to have sanctioned an 
extraordinary mode of proceeding. For, according to 
all appearance, Eulalius was instituted, not only without 
the presence of Basil, the Metropolitan of Cappadocia, 
but even before he had communicated his approbation of 
the choice. To this refers a passage of the oration, 3 where 
Gregory says, — 6 1 am not come hither to exhibit any 
disrespect towards the great shepherd who presides over 
that splendid city. I know his worth, I acknowledge 
him as my chief, I call him holy and reverend, even 
when I have been unfairly dealt with. Only let him 
love his children, and care for the whole Church. My 



i Ezek. xxxiv. 4. 2 Ephes. vi. 16. 3 Orat. xiii. 3, p. 254. 



140 THE PUBLIC LIFE AND [SECT. II. 

wish was to increase the number of God's priests, not to 
diminish it; to extirpate heretics, not to weaken the 
orthodox.' Probably the Bishopric of Doare would not 
have been filled up by Basil with sufficient speed at a 
very critical point of time; and Gregory, relying upon 
their old friendship, thought that he would allow a 
(perhaps) necessary encroachment on his privilege for 
the good of the Church. That Eulalius was not forced 
upon the Church of Doare, but was wished for by the 
same — at least, by a great part of the community — 
appears plainly from the circumstances themselves, and 
from the oration of Gregory. 

To this period probably belongs a discourse of greater 
length, in which he recommends beneficence towards ilie 
'poor. 1 This speech is supposed by the older, as well as 
the later commentators upon Gregory, to have been 
delivered in an infirmary 2 of a highly beneficial cha- 
racter, established near Csesarea by Basil. He could 
not, however, have spoken it in the extended form in 
which we now have it, since it resembles rather an essay, 
on which great pains were bestowed by Gregory, in 
order to animate the public mind to active benevolence, 
than an oration intended to be delivered viva voce. 



1 It is usually entitled irepi TrTwxorpoQiaQ, but by the Bene- 
dictine editors more correctly, wept $/Ao7rra>x;iac.. Compare the 
first paragraph of the discourse itself, where we read : ds^aa^e 
tov 7TEpl rrjg <pi\o7rT(x>x'iaQ ^oyov. Orat. xiv. pp. 257 — 285. 

2 Soon after his elevation to the episcopal chair, Basil founded, 
in the neighbourhood of Csesarea, a very useful institution or 
hospital for the sick, principally for lepers, who so often, in those 
parts, were forsaken by all, and doomed to the most melancholy 
fate. He himself took care of the sick, treated them as brothers, 
and, in order to convince them of the reality of that sentiment, 
he did not shrink from giving them the kiss of charity, notwith- 
standing their loathsome condition. Gregor. Orat. xliii. 63, 



CHAP. XI.] LABOURS OF GREGORY. 141 

The treatise, as might be expected from its subject, is 
of a practical character; it contains many warm and 
feeling passages, but it is also here and there, unhappily, 
overloaded with rhetorical display, false ornament, and 
exaggerated figures, so that those very places where the 
composer thought he had succeeded best, cannot but 
fail of effect upon the simple, unsophisticated reader. 1 
The best part was, that Gregory (as well as his parents, 
and especially his mother) always recommended love for 
the poor and active benevolence even more by deed and 
the living influence of example, than by fair words and 
rhetorical arguments. 

Unfortunate events of a public nature also gave oc- 
casion for some remarkable orations of Gregory, which 
are still extant. The district of Nazianzum was about 
this time visited with a fearful drought, attended in its 
results with a destructive murrain, and concluded, as it 
appears, with a ruinous hail-storm. The elder Gregory, 
weighed down with years, and deeply afflicted by the 
public calamity, was not in a condition to console and 
strengthen his downcast children. In compliance with 
the general wish, therefore, his son came forward, in 
order to treat of this remarkable combination of mis- 



pp. 817, 818. The institution must already have been important 
in its plan and design, since Gregory calls it a new city (icaivrf 
ttoXiq). It was afterwards liberally endowed by Valens, and 
assisted by contributions from many quarters. In honour of its 
founder, it retained the name of Basilias. A scholiast upon 
Gregory, of the 10th century (whose name also was Basilius), 
asserts that this oration was delivered by Gregory within the 
walls of that infirmary : rbv irooKiijievov tovtov 7rspi (piXoTzr. 
Xoyov ev Tip TrrujxziitJ licit £(piov?icr$ai (pavl, r<£ kv BaaiXeidoi. 
Nicetas also, a scholiast of the 11th century, repeats the same, 
though more decidedly. Compare also Gregor. Presbyter, in Vita 
Greg or., p. 142. 
1 Compare, for instance, in this relation, Or at. xiv. 16, p. 268. 



142 THE PUBLIC LIFE AND [SECT. II. 

fortunes in a religious light, as divine visitations. 1 
Gregory begins this characteristic 2 oration with the 
inquiry, i Whence, then, come these inflictions, these 
occasions of distress 1 and what is the cause of them ? 
Is it a disorderly and irregular movement of the 
universe, a progress without a guide, a blind, un- 
reasoning impulse, as if there were no one who 
presides over the whole, and chance (like an automaton) 
brought it all to pass, as the foolish wise ones suppose, and 
those who are themselves impelled, without thought or 
reflection, by a gloomy and disordered mind? Or, as the 
universe was originally formed, blended together, and 
compacted by reason and order, as its movements are 
well regulated in a manner known only to the impelling 
Mind, even so is the universe altered and otherwise 
ordered, under the guidance and control of a super- 
intending Providence V The orator of course declares 
himself in favour of the latter view, while he firmly 
maintains the fact of the ever-active influence and 
guidance of the divine love and wisdom in all the 
concerns and relations of the universe. 

Gregory sees in every misfortune an immediate ap- 
pointment of God, and it is his main object to bring 
the mind of his hearers to look upon this as a means 
of edification and sanctification, and to think little of 
transient earthly evil, when set against the eternal 
blessings, which even thereby are brought the nearer, 
and made the surer to them. He represents the cala- 
mities which hang over men as certainly, in part, a 
punishment, but also, and most especially, a proof of 



1 Orat. xvi. pp. 299 — 315. Elg tov irarkpa <Tno7ruJvra did 
ttjv 7r\r)yrjv rr\c, %a\a£?7£. 

2 Orat. xvi. 5, p. 3Q2. 



CHAP. XI.] LABOUKS OF GKEGOKY. 143 

God's love, and for the improvement of sinners, who are 
thereby called to repentance and conversion. How 
elevating, in this view, is his confession of un worthiness, 
and his prayer for mercy I 1 ( Lord, we have sinned, we 
have been ungodly, and have dealt unrighteously in all 
thy commandments.' 2 We have behaved ourselves un- 
worthily of our calling, and of the gospel of Christ, un- 
worthily of his holy passion, and of the humiliation to 
which he submitted for our sakes. We have been a 
reproach to thy dear Son. We have fallen away from 
Thee, Priests and people alike. c We have all gone aside 
from the right way; we have altogether become abomi- 
nable; there is none that doeth good; no, not one.' 3 We 
have cut ourselves off from thy loving mercy; we have 
excluded ourselves from t^e tender pity of our God, 
through the greatness of our sins and the baseness of 
our councils. Thou art kind, but we have done wickedly. 
Thou art long suffering, but we are worthy of stripes. 
We acknowledge thy goodness towards us, even when 
we are foolish and ungrateful. We have only been too 
little scourged for the greatness of our sins.' And 
again: 4 ' Assuredly it were better if we required no 
such purgation, and had not, but now, undergone this 
cleansing process ; it were better if our original dignity 
had been continued to us, for the recovery of which we 
labour by means of our earthly course of training; and 
if we had not forfeited the tree of life through the bitter 
pleasures of sin. But it is "also better that sinners 
should thus be brought to turn back to the right path, 
than that the fallen should not be chastised, and thereby 



1 Orat. xvi. 12, p. 308. * Barach, ii. 12. 

« Ps. xiv. 3. 4 Orat xvi. 15, p. 310. 



144 THE PUBLIC LIFE AJTD [.SECT. II. 

disciplined and trained for better things. For 'whom 
the Lord loveth he chasteneth,' and such punishment is 
a proof of fatherly regard. The sovl which is not ad- 
monished and corrected is also not healed of its sin. 1 To 
be chastened, therefore, is not sad; but not to he made 
wise by chastisement, thai is indeed the saddest of ad.'' 

At another time, a still greater evil seems to have 
threatened the inhabitants of Xazianzum. They had 
drawn upon themselves (from what cause we know not) 
the violent displeasure of the imperial lieutenant, or 
military commander of the province. The citizens were 
greatly alarmed, and betook themselves to their spiritual 
ruler for counsel. He delivered an oration, for the pur- 
pose of calming the minds of both parties, of strengthen- 
ing his frightened congregation, and of appeasing the 
irritated imperial officer. 2 The fearless honesty and 
dignity with which Gregory, in his character of bishop, 
addresses the great man of the world, is a remarkable 
feature of this discourse. Amongst other things, he 
thus addresses the authorities who were present (pro- 
bably with a military escort) in the church : c But will 
ye receive my frankness of speech ? The law of Christ, 
indeed, subjects you to my spiritual power — to my 
judgment-seat. For we also exercise authority; nay, I 



i tyvxi) Traaa dvov^srijroc. d^epciTrevroc, — or. as a wise poet 
of antiquity expresses it. 6 fit) capug avSpuTroc ov rraicevE-ai. 
Gregory (in his Orat. xyi. 7, p. 304) remarks, how salutary the 
chastenings of the present life (which are at the same time means 
of improvement) must be. in comparison with future punish- 
ments : : too great forbearance towards us in the present life 
would only hand us over to future judgment ; and thus it is better 
to be corrected, and thereby purified now. than to be consigned 
to those torments, where it is no more the time for purification, 
but only for punishment.' 

2 Omt. xvii. pp. 317—326. 



CHAP. XI.] LABOURS OF GREGORY. 145 

will go farther, — we have a higher and fuller authority. 1 
Or shall the spirit yield to the flesh, the heavenly to the 
earthly ? Thou, therefore, I am sure, wilt also take ray 
freedom in good part, because thou art a holy sheep of 
my holy flock, a follower of the great Shepherd, because 
thou hast been led by the holy spirit into the right way, 
and hast been enlightened, even as we are, by the light 
of the holy and blessed Trinity. With Christ as thy 
helper thou governest, with Christ thou dischargest the 
duties of thy office; from Him thou receivedst thy sword, 
not for actual use, but only in terroremr 0, then, keep 
it as a pure offering, dedicated to Him who gave it to 
thee ! Thou art an image of God, but thou rulest also 
over those who bear impressed upon them God's image. 
Respect, then, this relationship; reverence the great 
Original in that image; take part with God, not with 
the prince of this world; with the merciful ruler, not 
with the cruel tyrant. Imitate God's love for man, for 
to do good is the highest exercise of all that is divine in 
man. Thou canst now without labour attain to the 
divine; 3 neglect not this apt occasion of god-like action.' 



1 The unprejudiced reader will hardly see in this, expressions 
of hierarchical, pride; since Gregory is speaking, not of external 
power and authority, but of the higher spiritual dignity, the 
result of a higher commission. It is in the same sense that 
Erasmus, in a beautiful parallel, compares the clerical with the 
royal character, and gives precedence to the former. His asser- 
tion is : Cseterum si res ipsas justa pensemus trutina, nullus est 
rex tarn rnagnificus, quatenus rex est, quin sit infra dignitatem, 
non dicam episcopi, sed vicani pastoris. quatenus pastor est. — 
Ecclesiast. sire de Ratione concionandi. lib. i. p. 67 et seq. Edit. 
Basil. 

8 Gregory therefore appears to have denied the power of inflict- 
ing cap ita I pu n isle men t. 

5 Literally, 'become a God' : - 

HTjCEV 7T0Vr](TaVTL, 



146 DEATH OF THE ELDEE GREGOKY. [SECT. II. 

The address of Gregory appears not to have failed of its 
object. 1 



CHAPTER XII. 

THE DEATH OF THE ELDER GREGORY AND HIS WIFE, NOXNA : 
THE YOUNGER GREGORY RETIRES TO SELEUCIA. 

The instances above given show that Gregory was no 
unworthy or inefficient coadjutor to his father. Now, 
however, the time was come that the aged bishop (who 
was very nigh his hundredth year, who had been forty- 
five years in the priesthood, had discharged the duties of 
his office faithfully, and had maintained many struggles, 
especially under the government of Julian and of Valens) 2 
should go to his rest. His labours ended in a painful 
and tedious sickness, during which, religion and its 
means 3 of grace formed his sole support. He died 
praying. 4 He left to his son the best inheritance, a 
lengthened series of good deeds, and the unbounded 
love and esteem of his congregation. The most enduring 



1 About this time also (or somewhat later) occur those trans- 
actions which Gregory had (with beneficial results to his Church 
and clergy) with Julian, the Imperial com m issioner of taxes ; and 
of which we shall subsequently have a fitter occasion to speak 
more particularly. 

2 Greg. Orat. xviii. 37, p. 358, 

3 Orat. xviii. 38, p. 358 : woWaiag rijg i)nepag, egti dk ore icai 
i6pag vtto fAovrjQ tpptovvvro rr\g Xurovpyiag. This expression 
refers, doubtless, to the frequent celebration of the holy com- 
munion ; since it does not seem sufficient to understand literally 
the mere term, ' Liturgy.' 

4 'Ev rolg rrjg zi>xyQ prifiaai icai gx^I^clgi. Orat. xviii. 38, 
p. 359. To die praying was, at that time (and with justice), 
looked upon as a proof of genuine piety. Subsequently, greater 
importance was attached to dying in the confession of the faith 
which had been professed during life. 



CHAP. XII.] DEATH OF THE ELDEK GREGOKY. 147 

and noblest monument which his son could devote to 
his memory was the funeral oration 1 in which he com- 
memorated his virtues. Stone and brass would by this 
time have broken in pieces and crumbled away, or have 
been trampled under foot without respect by the bar- 
barians of those parts ; but this oration will be read and 
admired as long as Greek literature remains. 

It is certainly one of the best of the remaining 
orations of Gregory, full of child-like love for both his 
parents, full of friendship for Basil, who had come to 
Nazianzum for the purpose of consoling his friend, and 
was present at the delivery of the oration. The aged 
Gregory died, probably, in the spring of 374, and the 
oration was spoken several months afterwards. The 
mother, Nonna, was then still living, since she is 
addressed by her son in a very consolatory and elevating 
manner : 2 6 Life and death, my mother (as man calls 
them), though they seem to be widely different, yet pass 
the one into the other, and take each the place of the 
other. For life begins from corruption, our common 
mother; it passes on through a process of corruption, 
since the present is ever being torn away from us ; and 
it also ends with corruption, — that is, with the dis- 
solution of this present life. But as to death, which 
gives a release from present evils, and conducts to a 
higher state of existence, — I know not whether we 
should properly call it death, since it is more formidable 



1 Orat. xviii. p. 330 — 362 : 'E7rira0ioc eig rbv Trarspa irapbv- 
toq Ba(Ti\eiov. We have already given from this address several 
particulars characteristic of the elder Gregory and his wife Norma, 
(for she also is celebrated in the oration) ; several poems, ad- 
dressed by Gregory to his father, are also to be found in Mura- 
tori's Anecd. Grcec, pp. 67 — 77 ; Carm. 71 — 81. 

3 Orat. xviii. 42, p. 361. 

L 2 



148 DEATH OF XOXXA. [SECT. II. 

in name than in reality . Ino^eed, we seem to think and 
to feel quite unreasonably, when we fear that which is 
not to be dreaded, but strive (as for a more desirable 
object) after that which deserves rather to be feared. 
There is only one life, and that is, to live icith a con- 
stant view to the divine life. There is only one death, 
and that is sin. For sin is the destruction of the soul. 
But everything else, on account of which so many pride 
themselves, is but a dreamy vision; it cheats us out of 
the truth, like a seductive phantom of the soul. "When 
we have learnt to think thus, my mother, then shall 
we not feel elated on account of life, nor alarm ourselves 
on account of death. For what that is really bad can 
we be said to suffer, if we can but force our way from 
hence to the true life; if at length, being set free from 
this world's vicissitudes, from all its worry and weariness, 
from all attachment and subjection to wickedness and 
meanness, we shall there be admitted to things eternal 
and unchangeable, revolving like lesser lights round the 
great source of light !' 

These words of the son, addressed to his mother, 
whose whole life had already been a preparation for 
death, look like a special memento of her own approach- 
ing end. According to all probability, the aged Xonna 
did not long survive her husband. 1 Her death was, in 
its attendant circumstances, worthy of her life. 2 Without 

1 Certainly the words icai fiira drjpbv \xr)~i}o, in the short 
poem given by Muratori (p. 114, Carm. 120), seem to point to a 
longer interval between the death of the elder Gregory and that 
of Xonna ; but in the Carmen de Tit. sua (line 526, p. 9), Gregory- 
speaks of the death of his parents, as if they had both died about 
the same time. Other circumstances also, and especially Gregory's 
departure from Nazianzum (which was not long after his father's 
death), make this probable. , 

2 Numerous accounts of her death are to be found in the short 



CHAP. XII.] DEATH OF NOUfflA. 149 

being bowed down by sickness or age, she went one day 
to pray in the church; here, in the edifice which her 
husband had, in great measure, built, and before the 
altar at which he, as a faithful pastor, had so long served, 
her end surprised her. 1 She had just taken firm hold 
of the altar* with one hand, and suppliantly raised the 
other towards heaven, with the words, ' Be merciful unto 
me, Christ, my King!' when her vital power failed, 
and her body sank down lifeless before the altar. 2 She 
also was generally mourned for, especially by the 
widows, orphans, and the poor, whose comfort and 
support she had so long been. Her body was buried 
near the tombs of the martyrs, by the side of her 
husband. 3 Gregory, who had loved his mother with 
singular affectioD, and never forgot how much he owed 
to her domestic, and especially her spiritual care, 4 



elegiac poems of Gregory, first published by Muratori in his 
Anecd. Greeds, pp. 77 — 110 ; Carm. 81 — 117. Compare parti- 
cularly, Carm. 85, p. 83 ; 89, p. 89; 91, p. 91 ; 94, p. 93 ; 95, 
p. 94 ; 108, p. 101 ; 115, p. 106. 

1 Carm. 100, p. 96, in Muratori. In proof that she died in 
full consciousness, and without sickness, see Carm. 109, 102. 

2 Carm. 104, 105, pp. 98, 99, in Muratori. At the end of this 
poem we read : 

Xeipiov d/KporhuJV rtj jjlev Karsxovaa -pa7rE%av,* 
Ty d' kTTLXifjcrofjLsvr]' 'iXctSi Xpiorf ava^. 

3 Carm. 92, p. 91, in Muratori. 

4 Gregory describes himself, in one of these poems, as being 
also especially beloved by his mother, and as being particularly 
like her. He lays great stress, in this relation, on the^fact of 
her having suckled him herself. Carm. 81, p. 82: 

to <T UppEsv al/JLa tekov<T7)q 

'A/MpOTEpOig E7TL TTaiOl, fJLCiXiCFTa $E SpEfifiaTl ^T]\rJQ' 

Tovvsica Kal ere rocroLg sTTiypafAfiacri, [XTJrep^ erica. 
In Carm. 88, p. 89, also, Nonna is made to address Gregory as 



* Observe, Tpu7re£av, the table; not /Sa^d? nor Ova-iaa-Ttjpiov, an altar.— 
Translator, 



150 THE YOUNGER GREGORY [SECT. II. 

honoured his deceased parent by a series of little poems, 
wherein he extolled her piety and her beautiful end. 
In one of these he says : i Weep, mortals, for the race 
of mortals; but when any one dies like Nonna, in the 
act of prayer, then I weep not.' — (Carm. 116, p. 107.) 
By his father's death, Gregory was released from the 
obligation of administering the episcopal duties of 
Nazianzum. He urged the bishops of the province to 
fill up the appointment; he called their attention to 
the fact, that he had never been instituted by regular 
election as Bishop of Nazianzum; that it had much 
rather been his object to exonerate himself from all 
such responsibilities and public engagements, and to 
withdraw again into a life of solitude. 1 Nevertheless, 
the memory of his father, and affection for a Church 
deprived of so excellent a bishop, called upon him not 
to leave the same all at once in this bereaved state. 
Gregory, therefore, still retained for a time the super- 
vision of the Nazianzen Church, without making him- 
self liable to the formal acceptance of the bishopric. 
This superintendence, however, must have been the 
more oppressive to Gregory, since about this time his 
already shattered health was tried by an illness of a 
particularly dangerous character. He seems to have 



t'skvov £jtx?7£ 5?i\ijg — son of my breast. Still weightier was what 
Nonna had done for her son in spiritual matters, in order to dedi- 
cate him to God, with a view to a higher state of existence. 
1 Carm. de Vit. s., line 526 — 550, p. 9. 

Tour' avrb (pa<JKU)v role £7ri<T/c6Voic del, 

'AlTbJV TS SuJOOV £K fidSoVQ TTJQ KapdlCLQ, 

3Zrri<jai tlv dvdpa rqi TroXlfffiaTt gkottov 
Akyojv a\r)$u>g ev fi£v, o>c ovttu) tivol 
~Ei\ri(p<l)Q U7]V yvu)QifiojKT]ovyjxaTi' 
To Sevrtpov d' av, wq wdXai dedoyptvov 
~Elr) (pvyelv fis Kai (piXovg Kai Trpdyixara. 



CHAP. XII.] RETIEES TO SELEUCIA. 151 

been laid, as it were, upon his death-bed ; for he was so 
weak, that he was not even allowed to see by his bed- 
side a man who was particularly respected by him — 
Eusebius, Bishop of Saniosata, who at that time was 
obliged, as a zealous defender of the Nicene Creed, to 
wander in banishment to Thrace. 1 On his recovery, 
Gregory determined positively to leave Nazianzum; 
and in order that he might not be hindered in his pur- 
pose by urgent entreaties, he withdrew himself from 
his native city without communicating anything on the 
subject even to his friends. He betook himself (a.d. 375) 
to Seleucia, in Isauriar, a town of which he particularly 
celebrates, as a remarkable feature, a famous church, 
dedicated to St. Theckla. 2 He probably sojourned in 
the precincts of this Parthenon, as he calls the church. 

In this step of Gregory's, his dislike of the prevailing 
disputes in the Church, his disinclination to public 
employment, his love for contemplative solitude, com- 
bined with the then increasing sickliness of his body, 
contributed to produce a determination which cannot, 
indeed, be quite approved, though it may be excused; 3 



1 Greg. Epist. 28-29, p. 792. 

2 Carm. de Vit. s., line 547, p. 9 : 

Hptorov fxkv rj\$rov elg ^sksvKSiav tyvyag, 
Tbv TrapSeviova rrjg aoidifjiov Koprjg 
BskXciq 

3 Schroekh (K. Gesch., th. xiii. pp. 335 — 337) adduces, in con- 
nexion with this incident, several of Gregory's epistles, in which 
he exculpates himself on account of his departure from Nazian- 
zum — namely, Epist. 42, p. 803, to Gregory of Nyssa ; 65, p. 823, 
to Philagrius ; 222, p. 909, and Epist, 225, p. 911, to Theodore, 
bishop of Tyana. He seems, however, here, not to have exer- 
cised due attention, else it could not have escaped him (Schroekh), 
that the two first epistles are characterized by their contents as 
belonging to a later date (subsequent to Gregory's residence at 
Constantinople) ; but the two last are addressed to Theodore as 
Bishop of Tyana, which he did not become till a.d. 381. The 



152 THE YOUNGER GREGORY [SECT. II. 

least of all is it to be deduced from an arrogant under- 
valuing of the humble see of Nazianzum. 

For the purpose of enjoying contemplative repose and 
refreshment, Gregory had withdrawn to Seleucia. But 
ecclesiastical concerns followed him even thither, 1 since 
he was obliged to give counsel, consolation, and support 
to many places, during the disputes and oppressions that 
took place under Valens. His residence in Seleucia 
continued probably till the year 379 ; and it is to be 
supposed that he there received the painful intelligence 
of the death of his fondly-beloved Basil, who, amidst 
the not-to-be-restrained crowding of the people of 
Csesarea, had departed with the words of our Lord, — 
e Into, thy hands I commend my spirit.' The friendship 
between him and Gregory had certainly been disturbed 
by the circumstances of life; they had at one time 
mistaken and misunderstood each other, and their dis- 
pleasure was the more bitter, because they loved so truly 
in the bottom of their hearts. They soon, however, 
came to themselves, and friend again acknowledged in 
his friend the better and genuine part of his character. 
What affectionate sentiments Gregory cherished towards 
his beloved Basil, even after his death, is shown not 
only by several epistles, but most particularly by an 
oration delivered at the tomb of Basil, two years after- 
wards, at Csesarea, in which the most devoted fidelity 
and veneration for his departed friend are eloquently 
expressed. 2 Gregory also expresses his grief very 

Epistles all fall into a later period of Gregory's life, when he once 
more left the church of Nazianzum ; they will be duly noticed in 
their proper place. 

1 Carmen de Vita sua, line 555, p. 9. 

2 Orat. xliii. pp. 770 — 833. One of the most remarkable of 
Gregory's Orations ; from which much has already been given. 



CHAP. XII.] RETIRES TO SELEUCIA. 153 

strongly in an epistle to Gregory of ISTyssa, 1 the brother 
of the deceased : i This trial also was reserved for me, 
in this unhappy life, to hear of the death of Basil and 
the departure of that blessed spirit, which has only gone 
from us in order to go to the Lord, after a whole life 
spent in preparation for that event. And now, in addi- 
tion to other sorrows, a severe and dangerous illness, 
from which I am at this time suffering, has still denied 
me the gratification of kissing his holy ashes, of staying 
with you, his counterpart, and of consoling our com- 
mon friends.' 

Gregory, who had been a sufferer in mind and body, 
appears especially at this time to have been often in a 
very melancholy mood. A short epistle to his friend 
Eudoxius, 2 the rhetorician (which, without a doubt, 
belongs to this period), gives us a complete insight into 
his dejected state of mind. ' You inquire how I am; I 
answer, Very ill. I no longer have Basil, no longer 
Csesarius — the one my spiritual, the other my natural 
brother. I may say, too, with David, ' My father and 
my mother have forsaken me.' My body is sickly; age 
shows itself on my head; my cares grow more compli- 
cated; business accumulates upon me; friends prove 
untrue ; the Church is without shepherds ; good is dis- 
appearing; evil presents itself barefaced. We are 
journeying in the night; there is nowhere a torch to 
give us light; Christ sleepeth. What, then, is to be 
done ? Alas ! there is only one escape for me from 
these evils, and that is death ! But that which lies 
beyond would also affrighten me, were I obliged to 
judge of it from my feelings on this side the grave.' 



1 Epist. 37, al. 35, p. 799. 2 Ejdst. 39, al. 29, p. 802. 



154 



SECTION THE THIRD. 



GREGORY'S PUBLIC LABOURS AT CONSTANTINOPLE, TELL HIS RETURN 
TO HIS NATIVE COUNTRY — FROil A.D. 379 TO 381 ; THERE- 
FORE, FROM ABOUT HIS FORTY-NINTH TO HIS FIFTY-FIRST 
YEAR. 

CHEOXOLOGICAL EEVIEW :— The date at which 
Gregory went to Constantinople cannot be quite 
exactly determined. It was, at all events, in the year 
379. when the Arian party was still dominant there. 
He himself informs us that his residence in Constanti- 
nople was extended to the third year; and as he left 
that city in the summer of 381, he must have gone 
thither in 379. At the commencement of this year 
(Jan. 19, a.d. 379), Theodosius, then thirty-three years 
of age, and devoted to the Mcene confession of faith, 
was raised to the Imperial throne. The prospects, 
therefore, of the adherents of that creed in the East 
were become favourable. Their hopes already reached 
their fulfilment, when (on February 28, 380) Theodosius 
published the celebrated edict in favour of the ISTicene 
rule of faith, and against all the anti-Xicene parties; 
probably the same day on which he was baptized at 
Thessalonica by the orthodox bishop, Acholius. On the 
24th of November, Theodosius came to Constantinople. 
On the 26th, he ejected the Arians from all the churches 
of the capital, and gave them to the orthodox Catholics. 
On the 10th of January, 381, there followed a new 
edict against Arians, Eunomians, and Photianists. 



CHAP. I.] GREGORY AT CONSTANTINOPLE. 155 

Finally, to complete his regulations, Theodosius called 
together a general assembly of the Church at Constanti- 
nople, which commenced its sittings in May, 381. Not 
long after this commencement, Gregory resigned the 
bishopric of the capital, which he had just formally re- 
ceived. He appears to have been still at Constantinople 
on the 31st of May, but he may have left it soon after. 
The synod ended on the 9th of July, 381 ; and now, on 
the 19th, on the 30th of July (and on subsequent days), 
the emperor published a series of laws against those 
whom that meeting had condemned as heretics. 



CHAPTEK I. 

THE STATE OF RELIGION AND OF THE CHURCH AT CONSTANTINOPLE. 

Just as Gregory had now withdrawn himself, as he 
thought, into calm retirement, the call of Providence 
conducted him to an ampler stage of action than any he 
had as yet entered upon. He was neither allowed to 
give himself to the enjoyment of solitary contemplation, 
nor to grieve for the dear ones he had lost, nor to 
longings after death, but was now, fbr the first time, to 
be drawn out into active life, and exert himself actively 
and influentially therein. The wish of a not very 
numerous christian community, which, amidst all the 
previous acts of oppression, had remained firmly attached 
to the Nicene confession of faith, called our Gregory 
from his retirement at Seleucia to Constantinople, the 
then capital of the Roman empire. He complied with 
that call, although (as a glance at the then state of that 



156 STATE OF RELIGION AND THE [SECT. III. 

city, especially in a religious point of view, may easily 
prove) the prospect was by no means inviting. 

The splendid city, c around which' (as Gregory says) 
'sea and land emulously contend, in order to load it 
with all their best gifts, and to crown her as the queen 
of cities,' l had been already, during the governments of 
several emperors, the storehouse of all the riches and all 
the magnificence of life from the three known quarters 
of the world. This new Rome strove to raise itself in 
external splendour above the old city, and already 
almost surpassed it in the love of pleasure, which had 
been fostered by a corrupt court ; for Julian had in vain 
sought to bring back the simple habits of ancient Rome. 
To the inhabitants of Constantinople, as well as to the 
Romans of later days, the first want was, ' Bread and 
public amusements' (panis et Circenses). Races, the 
theatre, the chase, contests with wild beasts, public 
processions, exhibitions of oratory, had, in their turn, 
become a sort of necessaries of life for persons of all 
conditions ; so that Gregory might well say there was 
much reason to fear that the first of cities would become 
a city of mere triflers. 2 

Even religious matters, like everything else, had 
become, to this idle, hollow state of mind, objects of 
jesting and amusement. That which belonged to the 
theatre was introduced into the church, and things that 
belonged to the church were, in return, adapted to the 
theatre. The best feelings of Christianity were not un- 
frequently submitted in comedies to the scornful laugh 
of the multitude. ' We are become (says Gregory 3 ) a 

1 Orat. xxxiii. 7, p. 608. 

8 Or. xxxvi. 12, p. 643 koi nokiv tlvai Trai^ovruv rrjv 

irpS)Tr)V sv iroXtaiv. 
8 Orat. ii. 84, p. 52. 



CHAP. I.] CHURCH AT CONSTANTINOPLE. 157 

new spectacle, not to men and angels (like St. Paul, the 
noblest of all combatants, while he wrestled with the 
powerful and the mighty), but to well-nigh all the un- 
godly — and this in the market-places, at drinking- 
parties, in scenes of enjoyment, and even of mourning. 
We are already brought upon the stage, aod (I must 
say it, though almost with tears) are made subjects for 
vulgar laughter in company with the most profligate 
of men.' Nay, there is hardly any gratification for the 
eye and ear so popular as a Christian exposed to 
mockery and insult in a comedy F And in another 
passage : ] ' My tragedy has become a comedy to the 
enemy; for they have taken not a little from our churches, 
in order to transfer it to the theatre; especially in the 
city, which is quite as ready to jest at divine things as 
anything else, and had rather laugh at that which is to 
be revered, than leave unlaughed-at anything really 
ridiculous ; so that I should wonder if they do not make 
me also a subject of laughter while I am thus addressing 
you this day.' The Constantinopolitans so completely 
turned everything into a subject of light jesting, that 
earnest Truth was stripped of its value by its rival, Wit, 
and that which was holy became, in the refined conver- 
sation of men of the world, a subject for raillery and 
jesting. 

But, what was still worse, the unbridled fondness 
of these people for dissipated enjoyment threatened to 
turn the church into a theatre, and the preacher into an 



1 Orat. xxii. 8, p. 419. Compare Orat. xxi. 5, p. 388, where 
Gregory laments, that in Constantinople even the most honoured 
patterns of a christian life produced little fruit, because men 
were accustomed to jest quite as much about holy things as about 
horse-racing and theatrical exhibitions. 



158 STATE OF RELIGION AND THE [SECT. III. 

actor. If he wished to please the man}-, he was obliged 
to accommodate himself to their taste, and to entertain 
and amuse them in the church. They required, also, in 
the sermon, something to gratify the ear, glittering 
declamation, with a theatrical delivery; and they then 
applauded with the same sort of pleasure the actor (den 
Komodianten) in the holy place, and the histrionic 
performer on the stage. And alas ! there were found, 
at that time also, too many who sought rather the 
approbation of men than the good of their souls. 1 ' How 
many do I find this day (says Gregory 2 ) who have 
undertaken the priestly office, but have artificially 
adorned the simple, artless piety of our religion, and 
introduced a new sort of secular oratory into the 
sanctuary and its holy ministrations, borrowed from the 
forum 3 and the theatre 1 So that we have now, if I may 
so express myself, two stages, differing from each other 
only in this, that the one stands open to all, the other 
only to a few; the one is laughed at, the other is 
respected; the one is theatrical, the other clerical.' 

The opposite views of the faith excited at that period, 
especially in Constantinople, a very general and lively 
interest, which was supported, and even directed by the 
court, though not always in the most commendable 
manner. It was, for the most part, not the interest of 
the heart, but of a sophistical and disputatious under- 
standing, (if not something far meaner.) to which the 



1 They were such, as are pointed to by Gregory in his Carmen, 
adv. Episc, line 342 : 

T6 TTpbe X a P lV ^l-fJLUJVTSC, ov rb avfiCjkoov. 

Orat. xxx vi. % p. 635. 

: a~6 tujv Sza-pujv sttl ti)v rolg ttoAAoTc azearov 

[xvcrrayujyiav. 



CHAP. I.] CHURCH AT CONSTANTINOPLE. 159 

controversy about points of faith served only for a 
pretext, 1 in order to succeed in the outward views of 
avarice and ambition. Whilst the sanctifying and 
beatifying doctrines of the Gospel, which point to the 
conversion of the inner man, were suffered to lie 
inactive, every one, from the emperor to the beggar, 
occupied himself, with incredible earnestness, in the 
discussion of some few theoretical propositions, con- 
cerning which the Gospel communicates just so much as 
is beneficial to men's minds, and necessary for salvation, 
and whose farther development, at all events, belongs 
rather to the schools than to every-day life. But the 
more violently these disputations were kindled, disturb- 
ing and dividing states, cities, and families, so much the 
more were the practical essentials of Christianity lost 
sight of. It seemed more important to maintain the 
doctrine of the Trinity than to love God with all the 
soul ; to acknowledge the equality of the Son's nature, 
than to follow after Him in humility and self-denial ; to 
defend the personality of the Holy Ghost, than to bring 
forth the fruits of the Spirit — love, peace, righteousness. 
The party of the Eunomians, who had gained from 
their founder a remarkable skill in logic, certainly 
nourished the taste for religious controversy very par- 
ticularly. But the evil was by no means confined to 
them i under the appearance of an interest in religion, 
an impatient, disputatious garrulity about points of 
faith, a passion for disputing and displaying wit, at the 
most ill-suited time and most improper place, had taken 
possession of most persons of all parties — a state of 



Carm. xi. line 162, p. 84. Gregory says : /cat Trpocpacig 
Tpiag son. 



160 STATE OF RELIGION AND THE [SECT. III. 

things which had its comic, 1 and also its sad and serious 
side. In this latter relation it especially affected 
Gregory, who must have suffered much in consequence. 
He says : i It is come to such a pitch, that the entire 
market-place resounds with the speeches of heretics; 
every meal is spoilt by this chattering, ad nauseam; 
every festivity is turned thereby into mourning : while 
every mournful solemnity is almost robbed of its painful 
character by a still greater evil — this fierce altercation; 
so that even the women's apartments, and the nurseries 
of simple childhood, are disturbed thereby, and the fair 
blossoms of modesty are nipped and spoilt by this pre- 
mature training for disputation.' 2 This is a sketch of 
the disturbing influence of this contentious spirit; it 
had, however, besides that, a fearfully destructive in- 
fluence on all domestic and political relations. This 
bad effect is pointed out by Gregory in most lively 
colours in another passage — - It is this,' he says, 3 c which 
has torn asunder the members of that one body — the 
Church; has set brothers at enmity; thrown cities into 
commotion; enraged citizens against each other ; driven 



1 The comic side is especially exhibited by Gregory of Nyssa, 
in a passage already much quoted : Orat. de Deitat. Filii et Spir. 
Sonet., Opp. t. iii. p. 466, ed. Paris; where he describes how at 
that time labouring-men, traders, old-clothesmen, and runaway 
slaves, set themselves up as teachers of dogmatic religion; and 
how it was hardly possible to transact money -matters, to purchase 
bread, to bespeak a bath, without being involved in a philoso- 
phical discussion whether the Son was begotten or not begotten, 
his subordination to the Father, and the like ! Compare Neander's 
account of this rage for dogmatic disputation among the people 
of Constantinople, against which the practical piety of Chrysostom 
had to contend. Neander's Chrysost., 2nd Th. pp. 18, 118. 

2 Orat. xxvii. 2, p. 488. Compare Carm. de Vit. sua, line 1210, 
p. 19. 

3 Orat. xxxii. 4, p. 581. 



CHAP. I.] CHURCH AT CONSTANTINOPLE. 161 

the people to take up arms; stirred up princes; sepa- 
rated priests from their people, and from each other; 
the people from their priests, and from one another; 
parents from their children, children from their parents ; 
husbands from their wives, wives from their husbands. 
Everything which bears a holy name has been profaned ; 
slaves and masters, pupils and teachers, old and young, 
have brought dishonour upon themselves and all the 
laws of veneration (that peculiar safeguard of virtue!) 
In lieu thereof, an insolent presumption is introduced 
as the highest law ; and we are divided, not merely tribe 
against tribe, (as Israel of old,) but houses and families 
against each other ; nay, almost every one is distracted 
within himself. And this is true of the whole world, 
the whole human race, as far as the heavenly doctrines 
of the Gospel have penetrated.' 

In addition to these religious disputes there arose 
also political struggles, in the form of the serious wars 
maintained by the Eoman empire against the Goths, so 
that this empire, in a very great degree, presented the 
appefrance of a sea agitated by violent storms. 1 

But the unhappy divisions by which, at that time, the 
Christians in general were distracted, showed them- 
selves under a form peculiarly alarming in the very 
capital of the empire. Under the late governments 
different parties had, by turns, been patronized, but 
subsequently those in particular who, though entertain- 
ing different views from each other, yet agreed in this, 



1 Greg. Oral. xxii. 2, p. 415, where, among other things, he 
says : ' It is dreadful to think of what we now see and hear; 
whole provinces laid waste — myriads of people slain — the ground 
covered with blood and dead bodies — a people of strange language 
{i.e. the Goths, see Orat. xxxiii. 2, p. 604) are stalking over a 
land that is not theirs, as if it were their own home." 

M 



162 STATE OF RELIGION A>T> THE [SECT. III. 

that they impugned the Nicene rale of faith. Const 

tins had protected the Arias party] Julian, during his 

short government; all parties alike, (at least in appear- 
ance.) but only to oppress all. After Jovian s early 
death, Yalens succeeded t<: tie sunrente power in the 
eastern t ;r:::n of tltt tnn:ire and. with dint. A nanism 
had even more favour than it had had with C .nst.tnhtts : 
he did not merely protect it. I nt ilso might, by 
revolting cruelties indicted uj :n the friends :f the 
Nicene decrees. to malt lominant. The ::th ::'.;:■: 

Christians were now exclude:! & m all :ht;.::hes and 
ecclesiastical property, and the Arians took possession 
of the same C tnstantiiiople. however, -till ;:ntinued 
the arena of ecclesiastical contention and religious par- 
tizanship. In that great :ity ; which, t 
some isolated good things, - much that was bad flowed 
in from all parts of Hie world, almost all parties had 
their adherents; but the following were me most re- 
markable. The EunorrrianSj professing an intellectual 
theology (which pretended to have completely explc red 
the being of God by means of logical dennitions . ana 
:v -: :-. strictly Arian fashi.n asserting the inequality of 
the Son to the Father, were very uumerouf in C mstan- 
tinoole. 1 and injured the earnest, practical sense :: reli- 
gion chiefly by this, that they made use :t the doctrines 
of Christianity exclusively as sub'ects for a disputatious 



1 This is abundantly proved by the ::.::. that Gregory directed 

■■ jlemical effort* principally ^ghii;: tLis ; : ~j Ever in the 
more intimate sc nety : the Z _ : I Leodosras, there were still, 
at first, some folio wets : I a n mia£ at :.v were soon got rid 
of. — Philostorg. Hist. EccL. x. 6. C ::: ::- also, Sozomen. Hist. 

Eccl.y vi. 27, upon the wide spread of this party. 



CHAP. I.] CHURCH AT CONSTANTINOPLE. 163 

loo-ic. The Macedonians, 1 who were attached to a serai- 
Arian notion of the equality of the natures in the Father 
and the Son, and, so far, approached nearer to the 
orthodox, were, at the same time, distinguished by a 
dignified earnestness of behaviour, and a monastic strict- 
ness of manner. They were themselves excluded from 
the possession of church property by the pure Arians, 
but still they spread widely, partly in Constantinople 
itself, partly in the neighbouring districts of the Hel- 
lespont, Thrace, Bithynia, and Phrygia. The Xovatians, 
outstepping the Macedonians in the strictness of their 
practical principles, had, at a former time, been on the 
point of uniting with the orthodox party, (from whom 
they did not differ on the main dogma in dispute, and 
with whom they experienced like oppression from the 
Arians.) had not the malevolent disposition of some 
party- leaders interposed as an obstacle. Thus they still 
remained separate, and therefore also increased the 
number of the opponents of orthodoxy. 2 Lastly, the 
Apollinarians had also begun to establish themselves 
there in numbers. Their doctrine contradicted the con- 
fession of Christ's true and perfect human nature, for 
that nature consists particularly of the faculty of reason 
(which they denied to Christ*). There was also a 
report at that time, as Gregory informs us, that an 
assembly of Apollinarian bishops would be held at Con- 



1 "We see the proof of their numbers in the polemical orations 
of Gregory delivered in Constantinople. We shall have occasion, 
in the dogmatic portion of this work, to speak more at length 
concerning these parties. 

2 Sozomen. Hist. Eccles., iv. 20. 

* This parenthesis is interpolated by me, to make the sentence 
intelligible . — Tran sla tor. 

M 2 



164 STATE OP RELIGION AND THE [SECT. III. 

stantinople, with the view of elevating their doctrine 
of Christ's nature into general notice, and even of forcing 
it upon the Churches. 1 

Through these different and daily increasing forms of 
opposition, the orthodox Church had come into a 
lamentable condition; and we cannot but wonder that 
the small band of her faithful members had not already 
melted away altogether, under the furious persecutions 
of their opponents, particularly of the pure Arians. 
From their ecclesiastical independence, and from their 
corporate existence in relation to the State, they had 
already been virtually ejected. They were held together 
only by brotherly love (which, alas ! was often dis- 
turbed), and a common devotion to the same confession 
of faith. We cannot better learn the condition of the 
orthodox Church community immediately before the 
arrival of Gregory, than from the description which he 
has given us; 2 a description which we can so much the 
less consider exaggerated, as it is taken from an oration 
which he delivered in the presence of a large portion of 
the inhabitants of Constantinople, and before one 
hundred and fifty bishops. ' This flock (he is speaking 
of his congregation) was once small and destitute, at 
least to the outward eye. Nay, it was hardly to be 
called a flock, but only a small trace, a remnant of a 



1 Greg. Carm de Tit. sua, line 609 et seq. p. 10 : 

Kal yap Tig s&pvXXeTro Kal avvr}XvGig 
'ETnGKOTTbiv, verjXvv alpeatv Xoyujv 
'ETruaayovTOJV ralg (piXaig 8KKXr)(Tiai£. 

2 Orat. xlii. 2, p. 749. Of the same purport, Carm. de Yit. 
sua, line 587 — 591, p. 10. 

Et%£ Ti fllKpOV Z,U)TIKY\Q (TTTSpfJia 7iVQr\C> 

Mrvxac reXeidg rtp X6y(f) rr\g Tt'iGTiug, 
Aadv fipaxvv [ikv, t$ Qe<£ de rrXeiova. 



CHAP. I.] CHURCH AT CONSTANTINOPLE. 165 

flock, without order, without an overseer, without co- 
herence. They had neither free pastures, nor any- 
regular fold, but they wandered about upon the hills, 
<in dens and caves of the earth' (Hebrews, xi. 38), 
scattered here and there, torn and bruised ; and if they 
found a bare support and scanty pasturage, they thought 
themselves fortunate to steal away again in safety.' 

Such was the wretched, distracted state of the 
orthodox party at Constantinople, when Valens, the 
patron of Arianism, lost his life in the bloody battle 
against the Goths, near Adrianople, a.d. 378. Gratian, 
in consideration of the highly critical state of the empire, 
wished to share the troubles and dangers of government 
with an efficient colleague. For this purpose he chose 
Theodosius (at that time thirty-three years of age), who 
was called to the throne from his paternal estate in 
Spain, whither he had been banished. He entered upon 
the government of the East in the year 379, and from 
his ascending the throne commences a new and happy 
epoch for the hitherto oppressed orthodox party. Even 
in the capital of the Eastern empire (nay, there most 
especially), they now dared to form the best hopes ; they 
only wanted a man who could stand with power and 
spirit at the head of their little band, supply them with 
a rally ing-point, and procure them respect among the 
hostile parties. Could such an one be found, they dared 
to hope for victory ; but not without a struggle, since 
the entire ecclesiastical power was in the hands of the 
Arians and the parties connected with them. 



166 GKEGORY AT CONSTANTINOPLE \ [SECT. III. 



CHAPTER II. 

GREGORY COilES TO CONSTANTINOPLE, AND COLLECTS A 
CONGREGATION. 

In this state of things, many members of the neglected 
community, and even some bishops 1 (probably of the 
neighbourhood), turned their thoughts towards Gregory, 
whose fame was already spread widely in the East, and 
urgently requested him to come at this decisive moment 2 
to Constantinople, He allowed himself to be persuaded, 
though he assures us that he went thither sorely against 
his wishes ; nay, he even hints that they were obliged to 
use force to tear him from the retirement of his then 



1 An epistle to Bosporius, of Colonist, seems to refer to this : 
Epist. xiv al. 48, p. 777- 

2 Gregory says so plainly enough. Carm. de Yit. sua, 
lines 592-596, p. 10 : 

Tovtolq .... 

"ETTSfJ.-iiEV llfJLCLQ T] X"P l £ 70 ^ TlvkvjlCLTOQ, 

UoXXujv Ka\oi)vru)v iroijxkvojv kcli ^ps^/JLarajv. 

Compare with this his Carra. adv. Fjrisc, line 81, p. 12. That 
under the expression, - many of the sheep,' ^psfjjj.ara, Gregory 
expressly understands members of the orthodox Church at Con- 
stantinople, is clear from a passage in the 36th Oration, where, 
among the reasons why his congregation was so attached to him, 
he assigns this also, ' because they looked upon him as their own 
work,' — that is, because they had called him thither. Many 
others, also, both laymen and clergy, may have encouraged 
Gregory to go to Constantinople. Among them, Gregory Pres- 
byter (in his Vita Gregorii, p. 18) particularly mentions Basil, as 
having, shortly before his death, expressed this wish to his friend. 
Probably, also. Peter, bishop of Alexandria, was among them, 
who, both in his fate, as well as in his episcopal chair, was a 
respected successor to Athanasius. At least, he wrote to Gregory, 
either just before his arrival at Constantinople, or soon after, a 
very friendly letter, wherein he declares him to be the legitimate 
Bishop of Constantinople. — Gregor. Carra de Yit. sua, line 858, 
p. 14. 



CHAP. II.] HE COLLECTS A CONGREGATION. 167 

residence. 1 It was subsequently a subject of especial 
satisfaction to him to be able to attest that he had not, 
in the least, troubled himself about the charge of the 
Bishopric of Constantinople, but that he had been called, 
nay, forced to go, and had only come thither from a 
sense of duty and the impulse of the Spirit. 2 

Gregory appeared unexpectedly in Constantinople, 
and the impression which he at first made upon the 
people was not favourable to him. He came to defend 
a faith which was still rejected with passionate earnest- 
ness by most of them. He was a pious and an eloquent 
man, but he had never taken any pains to make himself 
agreeable and commanding by attention to externals; 
and he had to make his public appearance before a city 
which did not regard even the most precious stone, if 
it had not been previously polished. They wanted a 
showy orator, full of power and grace, and there came 
to them instead a man already grown old, 3 bent with 
infirmity, his eye downcast, his head bald, his features 
full of indications of inward struggle and outward 
privations; clad, moreover, in miserable apparel. 4 This 



1 Carm. de Yit. sua, line 607. p. 10 : Ovtuj fikv fjkSov ovk 
Ik<jjv, aXX' avdpaai c\a7T£t£ fiiaioiq. The passage, however, is 
poetically indefinite. Chrysostoni, also, was brought from 
Antioch to Constantinople by an artful piece of violence. 

2 Orai. xxxiii. 13, p. 612. 

3 Gregory, nevertheless, was not so very advanced in years, 
being about fifty. But excessive asceticism had too early weak- 
ened his body, and made him an old man before his time. Carm. 
adv. Episc., line 110, p. 34, he says : 

Tc xclXkiov fioi dujfia (ppovr'tcnv raKev 

"B.C1] VSVEVKtV .... 

4 Simeon, the paraphrast, describes Gregory's external appear- 
ance in the following terms : — Quantum autem ad corporis for- 
mam attinet, statura mediocri erat, pallidus aliquantulum, non 
tamen citra venustatem ; depresso naso, superciliis in rectum 



168 GREGORY AT CONSTANTINOPLE : [SECT. III. 

man, they could see plainly, came not from the polished 
society of a distinguished city, but from the country, and 
some remote corner ! He looked almost like an outcast 
or a beggar, -without goods and chattels; 1 and yet this 
man was now to commence the struggle with different 
parties, far superior in might and in numbers. Such an 
enterprise at least bespoke courage and trust in God. 

On arriving at Constantinople, Gregory lodged with 
some relations, of whom we haye no farther account. It 
was probably in that dwelling that the first meetings of 
the small body of the orthodox were held — still, however, 
in private, and not without danger from their persecuting 
opponents. The professors of the Nicene system of 
faith appear at first to haye established here a private 
chapel, which by degrees was enlarged, and subsequently 
grew into a vast and celebrated church. It obtained 
the significant name of Anastasia, or the Church of the 



protensis, aspectu blando et suavi, altero oculo (nempe dextro) 
subtristis, queni etiam cicatrix qusedam contrahebat, barba hob 
promissa. densa tamen. Qua parte calvus non erat (nam sub- 
ealvus erat) albos crines habebat, sum mas item barbae partes 
velut firmo obsitas ostendebat. This writer, however, of the 
twelfth century, refers to no original source of information. Du 
Cange gives a portrait of Gregory from a MS. copy of his works, 
made in the time of Basil, the Macedonian, and now to be seen 
in Paris. See Du Cange's Constcmlinop. Christiana, lib. iv. 
cap. 6, p. 125, where, also, farther particulars are adduced 
respecting this Father's outward appearance. In this representa- 
tion, Gregory stands perfectly upright, in sacerdotal dress, with 
the book of the Gospel in his left hand. He is very characte- 
ristically distinguished from his brother Ceesarius (who is standing 
by him in a secular dress), by shorter hair, a longer beard, and 
a more serious expression of countenance, 
i Carnu de Tit. sua, 1. 696, p. 11 : 

Ou yap (pooi]rbv dvcpa rbv TriveGrarov, 

'Pifcvbv, kcct(jj vevovra, nal cvcreijiova, 

TaurpoQ xaXivoig ccifcpvcn rerijxora, 

$6j3({j re rov fieXKovTog, <bc o' dXXoig Katcoig .... 



CHAP. II.] HE COLLECTS A COXGEEGATION. 169 

Besurrection, because the Meene faith, which had lain 
for awhile in a death-like slumber, had here been raised 
up, and recovered fresh life and energy. 1 

Gregory's first business must have been, not so much 
to contend with opponents, as to unite firmly among 
themselves the members of his little congregation, and 
to lead them into the true path of the christian life. 
He had, perhaps, been invited principally as an advocate 
for the Mcene creed, and, as we shall soon see, he 
responded to that call with brilliant success. But it was, 
notwithstanding, the weightiest object with him, so to 
lead those who were commended to his care into the true 
spirit of an active Christianity, that their faith might be 
proved and recommended by their lives. For they also 
who had now attached themselves to Gregory, were only 
too much accustomed to empty talking and disputing 
about points of faith. He for that reason repeatedly 
and powerfully reminded them, that this mischievous 



1 See Orat. xxvi. 17, p. 484 oIkoq Tig avkiravotv 

rjfiag EvatfiriQ Kai (piX6$Eog avyyEv&v to (Tajj^a, avyyEvCov to 
TTVtvfia, navTa (piXoTifiog, Trap' olg Kai 6 Xabg ovTog iirdyrj^ 

kXeTTTWV ETL TTjV ^IWKOjJLEVVV ZVckfitlClV, OVK CCCEUJQ, 0VCE ClKlvdvVlt)Q. 

Orat. xlii. 26, p. 766 : Xalpoig 'AvaoTaoia jioi ty\q svvefieiag 
87rdjvvfie' av yap tov Xoyov f/fiiv E^avEaTr\aag etl /cara^po- 
vovfiEvov, k.t.X. Carm. cle Vit. sua, line 1079, p. 17 : 
'AvaGTacria, va&v 6 TijiiioTaTog, 
'H ttmjtiv e^iiyEipag kv yy KEi\iEvr\v. 
Other opinions concerning the origin of the Anastasia church and 
its name are to be seen in Du Cange's Constantino]}. Christian., 
lib. iv. cap. 7, p. 141 et seq. This church was always par- 
ticularly dear to Gregory, and cherished in his memory. See 
his Somnium de Anastasia? Templo, Carm. ix., especially verse 61, 
p. 79. He compares it frequently to Xoah's ark, to Shilo, where 
the ark of the covenant found a secure resting-place, and the 
like. Legends also ennobled this church with accounts of miracles 
connected with it. — Sozom. Hist. Eccles., vii. 5. It was in many 
respects enlarged and adorned under the subsequent emperors. 



170 GREGORY AT CONSTANTINOPLE : [SECT. III. 

and God-forgetting talkativeness about divine things 
destroyed all genuine fear of God, and desecrated what 
was holy ; and that there was only one way of the truly 
christian life, — that of active piety in the fulfilment of 
God's commandments. And this consisted in tending 
upon the sick, assisting the poor, real hospitality, perse- 
vering prayer, devoted self-denial, temperance, subduing 
of the passions, and the like. Such a devoted, self- 
denying life of active charity he recommended, as the 
simple way of faith, to all who wished to attain to true 
happiness. ' If (he added) faith were only for the 
learned, then none amongst us would be poorer than l 
God. 5 Whenever he had opportunity, Gregory repeated 
the weighty truth (which, indeed, contained within it 
one of the fundamental thoughts of his whole theology), 
that the knowledge of God and of his revealed will was 
only attainable in proportion to the purifying of the 
soul from the soil of sin; that only the pure soul was 
capable of holding intercourse with the Eternally-Pure ; 
and that it was only through a godly life thai any one 
coidd raise himself to the knowledge and contemplation 
of the divine nature. The doing God's will was, with 
him, the necessary prelude and the only way to a true 
and living knowledge ; in all his dogmatic speculations, 
he never lost sight of that. 2 

Gregory expresses himself very clearly on these 



1 Carm. de Vit. sua, line 1210—1231, pp. 19, 20. The same 
thoughts are very strongly expressed in Orat. xxvii, 7, p- 492, 
and in several passages of this oration. Under the term, ( the 
learned, ' Gregory means such as not merely simply received and 
acted upon the truths of the faith, but were also able to dispute 
concerning them. 

2 Orat. xx. 12, pp. 383-4, p. 377; Orat. xxxix. 9, p. 682; and 
in many other places. 



CHAP. II.] HE COLLECTS A CONGKEGATION. 171 

subjects in the Introduction to his celebrated theological 
discourses, from whence we must extract a particularly 
appropriate passage i 1 'It is not everyone's business to 
philosophise about God, — not every one's, I repeat ; for 
even that which is suited to the powers of those who 
still crawl upon the earth, is no easy subject. I add, 
moreover, that it is not proper everywhere, and before 
everybody, and without limitation ; but only at certain 
times, before certain persons, and according to certain 
rules. It is not for all, but only for those who have 
been proved and exercised in knowledge, and, above all, 
for such as have already purified their souls and bodies, 
or, at least, are beginning to purify them. For the 
impure cannot without danger presume to touch the 
All-pure, any more than the weak eye can support 
the beams of the sun. But when may we entertain the 
subject 1 Even then, when we are free from the 
external, ordinary bustle and turmoil of life; when 
the higher, nobler part of our nature (to rjyefjLoviKov) 
is not disturbed by the impression of pitiful, distracting 
things. And before whom? Only before such persons 
as consider the subject as a solemn matter; who treat 
divine things not like other topics, as subjects only for 



1 Orat. xxvii. 3, p. 489. The whole discourse is worth con- 
sulting, containing, as it does, very many practical truths. It is 
especially directed against the Eunomians, whom Gregory desig- 
nates as x ai povreg raig (SeprjXoLQ KEvcxpwviaig, Kai avTiSkctai 

TTJQ TpEvdiOVVfJLOV yVlVGSWQ, KCU TCllQ SLQ Ovdkv %p7](7l/LlOJ/ (ptpOVGCLlQ 

Xoyoiiaxiaig. He farther says of them : 7rpoc sv tovto fiXkirovat 
fiovov, o tl Srjffovaiv rj Xvgovgi twv 7rpo/3aXXofjisv(jt)v. He then 
sketches the pernicious and melancholy results of the divisions in 
the christian Church, and exhorts his hearers, if these separations 
into parties could not at once be got rid of, that at least they 
should reflect, that holy subjects should be handled as holy, and not 
be profaned by acrimonious contentions in the hearing of the 
heathen. — Ibid. 5, 6, p. 491 et seq. 



172 GREGORY AT CONSTANTINOPLE : [SECT. III. 

idle amusement, after discussing horse-races or the 
theatre, after songs, and the gratification of sense and 
appetite; who think it wicked to practise raillery upon 
these sacred topics, in mere display of antithetical skill. 
and as an ingredient of a life of pleasure. On what, 
then, should we philosophise, and within what limits ! 
On that which is within reach of the understanding, and 
as far as the comprehensive faculty and intellectual 
ability of the hearer can follow. Yet (he subsequently 
adds) let no one misconstrue all this which I have said, as 
if we should not always be thinking of God. We ought, 
indeed, rather to think of God than draw in our breath; 
nay. if it were possible, we should do nothing else.' 1 

Gregory treats of these things still more copiously in 
a discourse, which he delivered probably at the com- 
mencement of his residence in Constantinople, and in 
which, anions; other things, he reminds his hearers, in a 
very striking manner. 2 that the essence of christian 
wisdom consists, not in a sturdy readiness for argument, 
and the ability to express oneself eloquently on divine 
things, but in true self-knowledge and humility; and 
that it is better to give way mildly and wisely, than to 
be arrogantly stubborn and ignorant at the same time. 
In the same oration, he also powerfully and beautifully 
argues against an eagerness in condemning others, and 
declaring them to be heretics. ' Condemn not (he says 3 ) 
thv brother, call not his timidity ungodliness, and go 
not thoughtlessly too far. while thou doomest. or (when 
thou wouldst display a mild temper) absolvest him. 



1 ov rb pspirijtrScu cri]i'iKujc kluXvlu. to zicXoydv ce. 

ovck ri]v SrsoXoyiaVj lo<j—ep drrESsc, d.Wa rifv aKtupiav' eves ri)v 

cicaiKaXiar, d\\d rijr afierpiav. 

- Orat. xxxii. 21. p. 594. 3 Orai. xxxii. 29, p. 



CHAP. II.] HE COLLECTS A CONGREGATION. 173 

But on such occasions appear as the more humble; give 
thy brother the preference to thyself, assuredly not to 
thy own damage; for in such a case the act of con- 
demning and despising is nothing else than shutting out 
a brother from Christ, the sole hope of sinners; it is 
to pull up with the weeds, the hidden fruit, which is 
possibly of more value than thou art. 1 But rather, 
raise him up, gently and loyingly, not as an antagonist, 
not as a physician administering medicine by force, 
not as one who knoweth nothing but burning and 
cutting. Learn rather to know thyself in the spirit of 
humility, and search out thy own weaknesses. Truly, 
it is not one and the same thing to pull up and destroy 
a plant or a transient flower, and a man. Thou art an 
image of God, and hast to do with an image of God; 
and thou, who judgest, wilt thyself be judged. Try, 
then, and examine thy brother as one who is to be 
judged by the same standard as thyself.' Gregory also 
particularly recommended patient mildness in judging 
others, inasmuch as no one has a right to require of 
another to be pious exactly after the same manner as 
he is himself He urged this especially against the 
Eunomians, who exclusively considered the faculty of 
perception only (that is, the understanding, with its deter- 
minations and judgments), as the instrument through 
which we enter into connexion with God and a hio\her 
world. In opposition to such confined views, he makes 
repeated use of our Lord's expression : ' In my father's 
house are many mansions,' and concludes from them, 
that, as there are various mansions with God, so there 
must also be different ways (that is to say, different 



Matth. xiii. 29. 



174 GREGORY REVILED .[SECT. III. 

modes of life) which lead thereto. And thus, all these 
ways make up only one, — namely, that of virtue ; 
though this one may branch off again into many. 1 
Wherever Gregory found an earnest christian mind, and 
the living fruits of piety, he was willing to value them, 
even though there were connected with them a difference 
from his own dogmatic convictions. "With this feeling, 
he expresses himself with affectionate toleration towards 
the Macedonians, whom (as brethren over whom he did 
not wish to triumph, but with whom he would gladly 
harmonize) he thus addresses: 2 ' Such is the love I 
cherish for you, such the respect I feel for your becoming 
apparel, for your complexion, so expressive of abstemious- 
ness, for your holy societies, for the honour paid by you 
to virgin purity, for your nightly psalm-singing, your 
love of the poor, your brotherly kindness, your hos- 
pitality, that I could even wish to be accursed from 
Christ (Eom. ix. 3), and suffer anything as condemned 
for you, if ye were but united with us.' 



CHAPTER III. 

GREGORY, BEING REVILED AND PERSECUTED BY THE OPPOSITE 
PARTIES, ENDURES IT WITH MIED FORBEARANCE | CONTENTION 

AMONGST THE ORTHODOX IN CONSTANTINOPLE. 

While Gregory was obliged to exert all his energies in 
order to collect only a small congregation, bound to- 



1 Orat. xxvii. 8, p. 493. After these observations, Gregory 
makes the following application to the Eunoinians : ri ovv, d> 
PsKtkfte, WffTrsp nva TTiriav. Karayvwvrsg row riptrkpov Xoyov, 
7rdaac rag dXXag ocovg dosvrsc. ~pbg fiiav ravrfjv dsoea^i xai 
w3 , acr3'£ n)v Sid Xoyov icai cfwo/ac. wc airrol ouaSt, tog cs syu 
6riiii. dco\i<Jx'iag kciI rsoareiac. 

2 Orat. xli. 8, p. 737. 



CHAP. III.] AST) PERSECUTED. 175 

gether in truly evangelical sentiments, he had to 
encounter severe struggles and persecutions from with- 
out. He was, from the first, an object of hatred and of 
ridicule for all other parties, and men stooped to the 
lowest calumnies against him. They reproached him 
with his little congregation, his poverty, his origin from 
an obscure, indigent, provincial town ; they called him, 
in disparagement, a stranger, a foreigner; they even 
jested upon his well-worn clothing, his rough, unpolished 
behaviour, and the like. He, in return, gloried, with a 
noble pride in those very things which were objected 
against him, rejoicing in his congregation, small indeed 
and poor, but true and faithful — not ashamed of the 
plain, unpolished manners of his fatherland, but simply 
remarking, that all men, who are truly great and noble, 
had in common one spiritual and heavenly country. 1 

Such reproachful language might well be endured; 
but in those times of wild excitement, the religious 
hatred of zealots soon proceeded to deeds. Even in the 
midst of his little flock the life of Gregory was not 
secure. 2 On one occasion, in the night-time, the meet- 
ing-place of the orthodox was assailed; a mob of Arians, 
and, in particular, women of the lowest stamp, led on by 
monks, armed themselves with sticks and stones, and 
forced an entrance into the peaceful place of holy 
worship. The champion of orthodoxy well nigh became 
a martyr to his convictions : the altar was profaned, the 
consecrated wine was mixed with blood, the house of 
prayer was made a scene of outrage and unbridled 



1 Orat. xxxiii. 1, p. 603 ; and also 6—10. p. 607 et seq. 

2 Carm. de Yit. sua, lines 665— 678 ; Epist. 81, p. 839: 
Orat. xxxiii. 5, p. 607 : Orat. xxiii. 5, p. 428 ; Orat. xxxy. 3, 4, 
p. 630 et seq. 



176 GREGORY REVILED [SECT. III. 

licentiousness. Gregory happily escaped; but on the 
next morning he was summoned before the magistrates 
on account of this nocturnal tumult. 1 In the full con- 
sciousness of his innocence he defended himself so suc- 
cessfully, that this transaction served only to increase 
the triumph of his righteous cause. Most probably it 
was this event (though many others like it may have 
happened) which afterwards obtained for Gregory the 
honourable title of a Confessor. 

During all these persecutions, the pattern of St, 
Stephen, and the many heroes of the christian faith, 
floated before the mind of Gregory — but especially the 
example of Him, who said, ' Bless them that curse you,' 
and who even prayed for his enemies while hanging on 
the cross. He therefore treated even his enemies with 
gentleness and kindness, because it was a weightier 
object with him to improve them, than to cause their 
injustice to be punished. He counted it, like the first 
witnesses to the Gospel, a source of joy and satisfaction 
to suffer for the truth's sake; and he would certainly 
not have exchanged this state of suffering for a life of 
undisturbed, unruffled quiet. Hear how he expresses 
himself on the subject on writing to a friend : 2 ' Although 
fearful, yea, exceedingly fearful things have befallen us, 
yet it will be better to exercise patience, and to set a 
pattern of patient suffering to the great body of 
Christians; for men in general are not so powerfully 
convinced by words as by deeds ; and deeds under such 



1 (farm, de Vita sua, line 668, p. 11. Gregory Presbyter thus 
expresses himself thereon : Gv\\a€6fievoi de avrbv, rep rov 
vttcltikov Trapsvrycrav fififiari, tog riva Tapa%ujv icai ardanuv 
aiTiov. — Vita Gregorii, p. 144. 

2 Epist. 81, p. 839—841. 



CHAP. III.] AND PERSECUTED. 177 

circumstances are a silent exhortation. It is certainly 
something great to see justice done upon those who 
have done us injustice; something great, I say, because 
it is also beneficial, and for the good of others. But it 
is far greater, and more godike, to bear injustice with 
courage; for the former puts a check upon baseness, but 
the latter brings the wicked to a softer tone of mind ; 
and that is surely much better and more excellent than 
that they should simply not be base.' After quoting 
from the Scriptures examples of a patient endurance of 
suffering, Gregory thus proceeds : — ( You see, then, at 
once, the whole process of mild forbearance ; first of all, 
it prescribes the course required by law; then it recom- 
mends, it promises, it threatens, it punishes, but again 
holds back the hand; again it threatens, if there be a 
necessity ; it strikes a blow, but with a wish to spare, 
since it wishes only to prepare men for improvement. 
So, also, we would not strike immediately, (for that 
would not be prudent,) but would overcome by love. 
We would not cause the fig-tree to be dried up at once, 
which might still bear fruit.' 

Unhappily Gregory had to contend, not merely 
against the different Arian parties, but also against 
dissension in his own community. The spirit of par- 
tizanship, especially in connexion with religion, had, at 
that time, spread itself over all nations and cities, and 
extended its baneful influence even to the smallest 
communities. Even the little band of orthodox at 
Constantinople, oppressed as it was on all sides, was 
not perfectly united together, but took part in a division 
which had diffused itself from Antioch over almost the 
whole of eastern and western Christendom. The dispute 
began about the election of bishops, but was originally 

N 



178 CONTENTION AMONGST THE [SECT. III. 

also connected with the great Arian commotions. At 
the date, however, when this question concerns us, it 
referred properly to the persons of the rival bishops. 
When Arianism was dominant in Antioch, Meletius, 
formerly Bishop of Sebaste, but, at that time, of Bercea, 
was chosen bishop by the Acacian, or Arian party, 
because he had completely assented to the doctrines of 
Acacius in the council at Seleucia. Nevertheless, they 
had deceived themselves in their choice of him, or he 
had altered his opinions. As soon as he entered upon 
his bishopric, he at first avoided dogmatic expositions, 
and preached merely moral doctrines. 1 Afterwards, 
however, he began to propound the Nicene confession 
of faith, and to maintain the equality of persons. This 
caused his banishment. Euzoius, an Arian of the old 
school, was his successor. The adherents, however, of 
Meletius separated themselves from the Arians, and 
formed a distinct community, yet without uniting with 
the old orthodox, or Nicene party; for these held back 
from the Meletian party, because Meletius had been 
made bishop by the Arians. These two parties, therefore 
— the old orthodox and the Meletian— although agree- 
ing in their convictions, were yet ecclesiastically distinct. 
Subsequently, when, under the government of Julian, 
the Nicene-minded bishops, who had been banished by 
Constantius, returned from their exile in the Upper 
Thebais — viz. Eusebius, bishop of Yercellse, and Lucifer, 
bishop of Calaris — the latter betook himself to Antioch, 
and there consecrated the presbyter, Paulinus, as their 
bishop, in order to give a head to the party attached to 



1 6 Ss, TTpwrov fikv Trepl doyfxaroQ diaXeyscrScti V7repri- 

Seto, iiovqv da ti)v ifiucijv otdaGKaXiav rolg dicpoardlg 
7rpo(ji)KUv> — Socrat. ii. 44. 



CHAP. III.] ORTHODOX IN CONSTANTINOPLE. 179 

the banished Meletius. He was not, however, acknow- 
ledged as such by a great portion of them, and so much 
the less, when now Meletius himself returned to Antioch 
from exile. The orthodox Christians, therefore, in 
Antioch remained thus divided into two parties, of 
which that of Meletius was the more important — that 
of Paulinus the less numerous; and this division still 
continued, when the party against which they both con- 
tended (i.e. the Arian) had already lost much of its 
strength. They even extended their influence to the 
other orthodox Churches, since the Western and Egyptian 
Churches were gained over by Lucifer to the interest of 
Paulinus, while the Eastern Churches sided with Meletius. 
It even happened that, in some particular communities, 
men's minds were divided on this point, and a part of 
the members declared themselves for Paulinus, another 
part for Meletius. This appears certainly to have been 
the case in Constantinople at the very time when Gregory 
presided over the orthodox community there. At least, 
there are several passages, particularly in the 22nd 
Oration, which cannot be better explained than by 
referring them to this state of things. l There is no 
end (says Gregory) to our combat, not only with those 
who differ from our opinions, and vary from us on points 
of faith, but also with those of like opinions, who 
contend against the same and for the same with us — a 
circumstance which is, in truth, most extraordinary, 
melancholy, and to be lamented.' 1 He then remarks, 
that the same teachers are to-day extolled to the sky, 
and to-morrow doomed to hell; to-day they are ranked 
with Elias and John, to-morrow, with Judas and 



1 Orat. xxii. 4, p. 416. 
N 2 



180 CONTENTION AMONGST THE [SECT. III. 

Caiaphas; while their discreet and abstemious bearing, 
their dignity, blended with affability, are to-day inter- 
preted as genuine piety, to-morrow as hypocritical 
vanity. ] The following passage, however, is especially 
decisive : — c To our previous unworthiness this also is 
added, that though favoured by God with a knowledge 
of his salvation, still we contend for the interests of 
other men; nay, that this contentious spirit goes so far, 
that we even make use of the ambition of others in 
order to gratify it, and commence hostilities among our- 
selves for the sake of foreign bishops. And thus two 
serious sins are at once committed, while we certainly 
inflame their ambition still more, and, at the same time, 
seize upon this as an excuse for gratifying our own 
passions.' 2 

Several lovers of peace had exerted themselves to 
adjust this wide-spread Antiochian schism; among others, 
the great Basil, who had been a scholar of Meletius, 
addressed a series of letters to his former master. To 
these peace-makers belonged also Gregory Xazianzen, 
and the orations from which the above passages are 
quoted had the especial object of drawing off, at least, 
the orthodox of Constantinople from this lamentable 
meddling with foreign disputes. He had, partly for 



1 Orat. xxii. 5, p. 417. 

2 Orat. xxii. 13, p. 422. In the same oration Gregory uses the 
following remarkable expressions, which characterize in a fearful 
manner the moral condition of his time (Orat. xxii. 9. p. 420) : 
• It is quite shocking that no one any longer attributes to another 
real truth and honest} 7 — unfeigned unsophisticated virtue, ore 
fii]cslg etl TrifFttvsTai ttigtoq drat — even though he may actually 
possess an unblemished character and sincere piety ; but that, 
as a rule, one class of men are openly bad — the other exhibit. 
by way of mask and outward varnish, a certain good-natured 
gentleness (sTmtcsiai'), in order to deceive by mere outward show. 



CHAP. III.] ORTHODOX IN CONSTANTINOPLE. 181 

this reason, undertaken the laborious administration of 
the Bishopric of Constantinople, because he hoped, from 
this place, standing, as it did, in direct connexion with 
the Eastern and Western Churches, to be able to compose 
the difference which severed East and West. It was 
natural, however, that he should make the beginning 
with his own community. He presented himself, there- 
fore, before them expressly for this purpose, and (after 
he had addressed his people with the 1 usual greeting, 
' Peace be with you !' and had received from them the 
salutation (according to the liturgy), ' And peace be with 
thy spirit !') he thus proceeded : 2 ' Beloved peace ! thou 
sweet word of greeting, which I have now invoked upon 
my people and received in return from them. I cer- 
tainly know not, whether it were spoken by all in an 
honest manner, and worthy of the Spirit, and whether 
this outward bond has not been broken in the sight of 
God. Beloved peace! my daily thought and dearest 
jewel, who art most intimately combined with God's 
essence ; for thus we hear in the Holy Scriptures, l the 
peace of God,' and 'the God of peace'; and again, ( He 
himself is our peace,' and yet we honour thee not. 
Beloved peace! thou blessing, praised by all, but 
cherished by few, how long hast thou already left us ! 
and when wilt thou again return to usf He goes on 
to show how ruinously these divisions must necessarily 
operate, and how utterly they were opposed to the mind 
of the Gospel, and particularly in this beautiful passage : 3 
< If any one inquire of us, what we especially regard and 



ft 1 Chrysost. Homil. iii. in Ep. ad Coloss orav si(jk\Sy 6 

T7JQ EKKXr)(jiaQ TTpOEGTUJQ, EvSeuJQ Xgyff tiprjVT) TTCLCTIV' OTCIV OfllXy, 

siprjvri iraaiv. See more on this subject in August'i's JDenk- 
twiirdigkeit., vol. vi. p. 358. 

2 Orat, xxii. 1, p. 414. 3 Orat. xxii. 4, p. 416. 



182 REUNION OF PARTIES. [SECT. III. 

pray for, we would unhesitatingly reply, c Love'; for our 
God is love, and that word he listens to rather than any 
other. How then can we, who are disciples of love, 
hate each other so bitterly? How can we, the admirers 
of peace, contend with each other so implacably'? Can 
we, who are built upon the same corner-stone, be dis- 
united ? we, who rest upon the rock, be shaken asunder V 
Certainly, Gregory did not reckon upon pleasing or 
persuading all whom he addressed, since he says 1 (after 
reminding them how the world was now divided into 
two parties), ( Whoever now stands peaceably in the 
middle way will be badly treated by both parties, and be 
either despised, or rudely attacked! 1 To that class, how- 
ever, I this day belong, (I, who thus censure the other,) 
and with that view I have undertaken the duties of this 
much-disputed and much-envied Bishopric ; nor shall I, 
therefore, be surprised, if I be roughly handled by both 
parties, and, after much toil and labour, be driven away, 
in order that, when there is no longer a wall of partition, 
no hindrance to their inclinations, they may resume, 
with all the fire of hatred, their hostile proceedings.' 

It is, however, probable that these addresses of Gregory 
produced more and better results than he himself ex- 
pected. At least, we hear no more of any dissension in 
the orthodox community of Constantinople, which had 
brought itself into such a condition ; and we have an 
oration of Gregory's which celebrates an amicable re- 
conciliation between the members of his community, 
and probably belongs to this period of his history. 3 



1 Orat. xxii. 14, p. 423. 

2 . . . oaov 8e ilprjviicov re kcll [iscrov, vt? dfifporspiov ttclg-^u 
KCttcujQi 7) KaracppovovfiEvov^ Tj KCti 7To\eflOVflSVOV. 

3 Orat. xxiii. p. 425. It is disputed certainly, concerning this 
oration, whether it belongs exactly to this period, or to an earlier 



CHAP. IV.] GREGOKY'S PREACHING. 183 



CHAPTER IV. 

GREGORY'S PREACHING; AND HIS PRIVATE LIFE AT 
CONSTANTINOPLE . 

It seems appropriate here to consider generally the 
nature and manner of Gregory's ministration at Con- 
stantinople, briefly to estimate his claims to eloquence, 
and cast a look at his private life. 

As an ecclesiastical orator, Gregory is of great weight. 
In the whole course of his education, the idea of be- 
coming an orator had floated before him, and next to 
the effort to become a good Christian in knowledge and 
in practice, Gregory knew no higher object than to be 
a good orator and an effective advocate for the christian 
faith. Already, in early youth, he went to Palestine, 
because the schools of rhetoric there were in especial 
celebrity. At Athens, rhetoric, in company with phi- 
losophy, was his principal study; he was said even to 
have been a teacher of rhetoric there ; and, on his return 
to his native country, he was immediately obliged to 
exhibit his powers in that art. That whole generation 



date — perhaps when Gregory entered upon the episcopal duties at 
Nazianzum, in his father's lifetime. The following passage, how- 
ever (Orat. xxiii. 3, 4, p. 426), seems to speak tolerably plain for 
the first supposition : ' We were not at variance concerning the 
doctrine of the Godhead, but only about the proper order of 
church matters. Certainly it was wrong even to contend about 
this ; I will not deny it. But since, as men, we could not but 
fail on some point, this is our error : we had too great a predilec- 
tion for one particular bishop, and we could not, of two excellent 
men, decide immediately which to choose as the most excellent, 
until we agreed to honour both alike. This is the extent of our 
fault.' It seems, therefore, that they came to a reconciliation, on 
agreeing to acknowledge and honour both as legitimate bishops. 



184 Gregory's preaching. [sect. hi. 

regarded scarcely any art more highly than oratory; and 
Gregory, as a christian teacher, attached especial value 
to the faculty of working upon men's minds, particularly 
through the word of God and its lively oracles. 1 Un- 
fortunately, Gregory's age was also the age of rhetorical 
display and fine speaking. Instead of the ancient sim- 
plicity, where the clear thought and the strong feeling 
were expressed in the most suitable and intelligible 
language, an artificial refinement had been introduced, 
which endeavoured by elaborate ornament, pompous ac- 
cumulation, startling applications, ingenious antitheses, 
amusing playfulness, to compensate what was wanting 
in solidity and fulness of thought and sentiment. We 
find this in the most celebrated heathen rhetoricians of 
the fourth century; and Gregory, who was their scholar, 
was not able to raise himself above this show of rhe- 
torical skill to the simplicity of true christian eloquence, 
strongly as he at times laments over the ornamented 
and theatrical style of christian elocution. 2 Nothing, 
certainly, was wanting to Gregory in the way of 
oratorical talent. We find in him fire and strength, 
rapidity and compactness of thought, heartiness and 
truth of feeling, frequent instances of clear poetical 
representation, occasionally even an elevated flight, 
perfect purity in the use of the Greek language, and, 
for the most part, a noble, well-sustained phraseology. 



J See above, at page 50. 

2 Orat. xxxvi. 2, p. 635 ; Carm. adv. Episc, line 301, p. 31, 
edit. Tollii : 

'0 vovq aivsiTO, icai rod' yjuv doKsasi. 

QilOEV TO K0jJL'<pOV, TOLQ S'sXovgi dwffOflSl'. 

'Piipov to koXXoq, wv tcl doyjictT a.7ro(JTp£(py. 
'EfJKpiXocrbcpEi Ty svteXsicl tov Xoyov. 
H{ilv apsuicsie, izq,v a7raicsvTit)Q XaXrjg. 



chap, iv.] Gregory's preachixg. 185 

But with all this, the enjoyment of his orations is not 
unfrequently spoiled by long digressions, bitter sarcasms. 
laboured elegance, false splendour, and a straining after 
ingenious antitheses. 1 His funeral orations, in par- 
ticular, are too declamatory and exaggerated in com- 
mendation, and would be far weightier, and more at- 
tractive, if they sketched individuals characteristically 
from the life, instead of exhibiting them as patterns 2 of 
all the virtues. These, however, are. in a great degree, 
faults of the generation, and Gregory shows in de- 
tached passages, and in whole orations (for instance, in 
that upon Maccabees), that under other circumstances 
he could have been a classic orator, Christian orators 
of that period always had this advantage over the heathen 
rhetoricians, that the topics of their addresses were more 
weighty, as well as more elevating. They discussed 
subjects by which the age was profoundly excited, and 
in which they themselves took a lively interest, while 
the heathen rhetoricians spoke in defence of an extinct 
worship, or upon other subjects, which could make no 
pretension to political or social interest. 

We find in the old Fathers generally two different 
kinds of public addresses; that is, either free orations, 
after the manner of the heathen orators, but with very 
different topics; or homilies, — that is, popular, practical, 
expositions of Holy Scripture, "which extended sometimes 
in a connected series over whole books of the Bible. 
This last kind was made use of by the most distinguished 
Fathers with particularly good results; and wherever a 
preacher produced any very beneficial and happy effect, 



1 For instance, Orat. i. p. 5 ; Orat. xxix. 20. p. 538. 

2 Compare, for instance, the panegyric npon Athanasras, Orat. 
xxi. 1, p. 386, and 4, p. 3S8. 



186 Gregory's preaching. [sect. hi. 

it was by working as a practical, popular expositor of the 
Bible, as the announcer of the quickening truths of 
the Bible. That which made John Chrysostom great 
and worthy of imitation in this field of exertion, that 
which made Luther, the father of our German Church, 
still greater and more worthy to be imitated, — the simple 
and historical, but at the same time spirited and 
animated exposition of Holy Scripture ; this, alas ! we 
seldom find in Gregory, who, even where he has at- 
tempted it, has followed too much the style and language 
of the heathen teachers. We possess only one l discourse 
by him, which contains a properly-called exposition of 
a passage in the Bible. His sermons generally are 
free treatises upon a dogmatic subject, or the topics 
belonging to a Christian festival, discourses on particular 
occasions, refutations of heretics, panegyrics and in- 
vectives. They have no particular text to serve for a 
foundation or for exposition, although Bible-passages are 
not unfrequently interwoven with them. Too few, 
certainly, of Gregory's discourses are, in the proper sense 
of the word, biblical; practical they are, nevertheless, — 
at least, in numerous passages, and in a very commend- 
able way; still they cannot be called popular, though 
they were so with Gregory's hearers, who were familiar 
with dogmatic definitions concerning the doctrine of the 
Trinity as a subject of disputation, and very eager for 
investigations thereon; in a far higher degree they 
were popular with them than they would be in our days. 
The homiletic rules and forms of modern Germany, our 
strictly- worked-out themes, our logical divisions and sub- 
divisions, our well-ordered uniformity of the separate 



Orat. xxxvii. p. 645 — 660, upon St. Matth. xix. 1, 



chap, iy.] Gregory's preaching. 187 

parts, and the like, are, generally speaking, as little to 
be thought of in the sermons of Gregory, Basil, 
Chrysostoni, Augustine, as in those of Luther. Nothing, 
therefore, is more unfair than to detach such productions 
of the earlier centuries from their relative circumstances, 
and to judge them only by the rules which our own age 
has set up. It is with a view to this relation of time 
and place that we subjoin the following remarks upon 
the circumstance, that the doctrine of the Trinity forms 
the main topic of most of Gregory's discourses. 

In all his public addresses, particularly those 1 which 
were held at Constantinople, it is a principal view of the 
orator to prove the existence of one only God, but that 
this Godhead, without being divided, exists in three 
self-depending Hypostases, or Persons, distinguished by 
peculiar qualities or attributes, — viz. Father, Son, and 
Holy Ghost ; and that it therefore may be designated as 
well by the term Unity as Trinity (or Trinity in Unity). 
He opposed, with this view, those who denied the 
equality of nature between the Son and the Father, or 
the perfect Godhead and personality of the Holy Ghost ; 
these were especially the Eunomians and Macedonians. 
He maintained the contest against them with such 
acuteness, dexterity, and success, that the name of 
Theologus, 2 or the defender of the divinity of the 



1 Among the discourses of Gregory for the confirmation of the 
doctrine of the Trinity, the most celebrated, without doubt, 
are the five so-called Theological Discourses, Orat. xxvii. — xxxi. 
p. 487 — 577, in the Benedictine edit. The essential features of 
their dogmatic contents, as also the chief points of Gregory's 
teaching on the Trinity, will subsequently be exhibited in the ab- 
stract of his doctrinal opinions. 

2 Gregor. Presbyt. in Vita Gregor., p. 149 : 'Ev ck Zoy/JLaruv 
v-ipei tcai SeoXoyiq., toctovtov avrtp to ttzqwv tt\q cwdfisojc, ware 
ttoXKwv icard tovq \o6vovq StoXoyrjcav-wv avSp&v £7ri aotyiq, 



188 Gregory's preachikg. [sect. hi. 

Logos, was given to him principally on that account. 
Now, it is not only to be remembered that Gregory 
supports the doctrine of the Trinity more upon tra- 
ditional and philosophical grounds than upon Biblical 
proofs, but also very especially, that, through the subtile, 
oft-repeated expansion of this doctrine, too little room 
was left for the communication of all the blessed truths 
of the Gospel, and a taste for dogmatic disputation en- 
couraged, rather than a charitable, christian love of 
peace. We must not, however, forget, 1st, that in the 
doctrine of the Trinity was involved the great subject 
of dispute, which put in commotion all classes of the 
christian community through the whole of the fourth 
century; 2ndly, that Constantinople was one of the 
principal arenas for this contest; 3rdly, that it was 
necessary that the question should then be decided, 
which of the antagonist doctrines should prevail; and, 
lastly, that Gregory, as a finished theologian and cele- 
brated orator, was expressly called to the duties of the 
leader and champion of the orthodox or Nicene party. 



yvopifjiwv, fiovov tovtov \xztcl tov tva.yyikiGTY\v 'Iwavvqv 
& toXoyov ovofiaa^rjvai. The expression ' Theologus, ' as ap- 
plied to S. John the Evangelist, and to Gregory of ISazianzum, 
has not the extended meaning which we now attach to it, but 
signifies one who powerfully teaches and defends the divinity of 
Christ, or the Logos — i. e. BsoXoyia, in its most confined sense. 
It is used in the same way as when one is said SsoXoyelv Hqigtov, 
or to teach Christ's divinity. See Suiceri, Thesaur. Eccles., sub verb. 
SeoXoyeTv, SeoXoyia, StoXoyoc, torn. i. pp. 1355 — 1360. The de- 
signation of Theologian often occurs in Gregory's writings in the 
more extended sense usual amongst us — e. g. Orat. xxvii. 1, 
p. 495 ; xxx. 11, p. 552 ; xx. 12, p. 383. Gregory also speaks 
of the wiser heathens as 'EXXi)vtov oi StoXoyiKujTspoi. Orat. xxxi. 
5, p. 558. When it was that Gregory first received the name of 
Theologus, cannot be decided with exact certainty. It appears 
first in the discourse of an unknown author, which is found among 
the works of Chrysostom. Chrysost. Opp., t. vi. ; Orat. li. p. 401. 



chap, iv.] Gregory's preaching. 189 

But for the firm stand made by Gregory and some other 
learned men, the anti-iSTicene party would perhaps have 
triumphed. And could we wish it had been so '? or is 
Arianism either more agreeable to the Bible, or better 
grounded on philosophy, than the doctrine of the 
Athanasian creed \ Did the Arians, when they were 
predominant under Yalens, show themselves to be better 
practical Christians than their opponents 1 And will 
not he, who cannot see any true conception of Bible- 
truth in the Xicene system of faith, be obliged to allow 
that, even as a dogmatic theory, it is to be preferred to 
Arianism ? 

At the same time, it is not to be overlooked, that 
Gregory, almost in every discourse, preaches quite as 
much the duties of active Christianity, and that it was 
properly the deep-seated main object of his addresses, 
not so much to gain the understanding of his hearers 
for a particular representation of the divine nature, as 
their hearts for the love of God and for a godly life. ' I 
will speak (he says) l boldly and strongly, that you may 
become better men, that you may be converted from the 
flesh to the Spirit, that you may be elevated in your 
minds after a godly fashion.' 

Gregory's addresses were heard and applauded by 
great numbers. People of all classes and opinions, his 
christian as well as heathen opponents, crowded to hear 
him speak. 2 Many were attracted by the matter of his 



1 Oral. xix. 4, p. 365. 

2 Carmen de Yit. s., line 1126, p. 18 : 

Totg £' tfv Xoyog rig rtiv Efitav Icrijjg Xoyuv, 

Ol 5' <1)Q a5\i]71J KClpTtptp 7TG0<j'zT0eX 0V > 

Oi c' tog kavT&v epyov ii\ov a<7fi8i'i.og. 
In these tkree lines, Gregory sketches three classes of his hearers : 
the first sought him on account of his eloquence ; the second at- 



190 Gregory's preaching. [sect. hi. 

preaching, many by the beautiful 1 form of his orations. 
Loud tokens of approbation (such as, to the disgust of 
every earnest preacher, were at that time customary in 
Constantinople and elsewhere) 2 frequently accompanied 
the public addresses of Gregory. Nay, there were 
ordinarily in the assembly several persons who secretly, 
or even openly, took notes of them, 3 a custom of which 



tended upon him as an ardent champion for the orthodox doc- 
trine ; the third, because they had contributed to his invitation 
to Constantinople, and therefore looked upon him as their own 
work. 

1 It may be remarked here by the way, that the natives of 
Cappadocia did not generally stand in much reputation as good 
speakers of the Greek language. Philostratus says of the sophist 
Pausanias, in this relation : anrjyyeiXe 8* abra Tra^a'a rr\ y\wrr^, 
Kai (bg K.cnnr adoKciiq <ruvr]$tc, ZvyKpovcov jxhv ra crvfMpwva 
tGjv OTOixst'wv, gvgteXXujv dh tcl firjKVVOfAEva, Kai jjltjkvvujv ra 
(3pax&ci> o$tv sicaXovv avrbv ol ttoXXol pay eipov, TroXvreXrj 
o\pa 7rovripu)Q dprvovra. — De Vitis Sophistar., ii. 13, p. 594. Olear. 
Of Eunomius, who was also a Cappadocian, his admirer, Philo- 
storgius, remarks (though he extols his eloquence uncommonly) 
that he stammered. — Philostorg. Hist. Eccles., x. 6. 

2 See Neander's Chrysostom, vol. i. pp. 117, 327; Augusti's 
DenJcwiirdiglceite, vol. vi. p. 344 et seq. ; F. B. Ferrarius, De 
Veterum Acclamationibus et Plausu., lib. v. cap. 2, p. 229, edit. 
Mediolan. How frequently Gregory received these tokens of 
approbation, appears particularly from a passage in S.Jerome, in 
which he makes his master (Gregory) say : Docebo te super hac 
re in ecclesia : in qua mihi omni populo acclamante cogeris invitus 
scire, quod nescis. Hieron. Epist. lii. torn. i. p. 261. 

3 Orat. xlii. 26, p. 767: . . . x a ^9 eTe r & v sfi&v Xoycov spacrrai, 
Kai cpdfioi, Kai auvvpojxal, Kai ypacpidec (pavtpal Kai XavSavovcrai. 
Compare Bingham's Orig. Eccles., vol. vi. p. 197, and Augusti's 
Denkwurdigkeite, vol* vi. p. 351, where still farther particulars^ 
referring to this matter, are given. I cannot, however, agree 
with this last-mentioned scholar, when he refers the ypa<pi$sg 
<pavtpal to official writers, who took down his speeches with 
Gregory's knowledge, since we cannot see with what object he 
could have employed official, i. e. specially bespoken writers. 
He had, without doubt, carefully written out his sermons before 
he preached them, and did not, as was the case also with other 
famous preachers of that time, deliver them extempore. I refer 
the expressions, taken altogether, only to persons who, either 



chap, iv.] Gregory's preaching. 191 

mention is made in the biographies of several great 
Fathers of the Church ; e. g. Origen, Chrysostom, 
Augustine, and others. Gregory himself, under the 
fiction of a dream, gives us the picture of an assembly 
in his Church of the Resurrection. 1 6 Sweet sleep em- 
braced me, and in it a dream presented to my mind my 
church Anastasia, the object of my daily longing. I 
was seated (as it appeared to me) on a high-raised 
chair (the bishop's throne), yet not elated in mind, for 
nothing like arrogance took possession of me during the 
dream. Somewhat lower, on either side of me, sat the 
presbyters, the leaders of the flock, the chosen band of 
men. Next stood, in robes of dazzling whiteness, the 
attendant helpers (deacons), a picture of angelic adorn- 
ment. 2 But the people arranged themselves in ranks, 
clustering like bees around the pulpit, and contending 
for nearer access. 3 Some of them even pressed upon 
the sacred doors, in order to approach nearer with their 
ears as well as feet. Others flocked in from the market- 
towns and highways to hear my discourse; while from 
the upper range of seats holy virgins and noble ladies 
bent forward with attentive ears.' Gregory then de- 



openly or secretly, took notes of his discourses for their own 
private ends. It is, however, to be remarked, that Gregory's 
orations were not only thus taken down at their delivery, but 
were also transcribed by persons of respectability during his life- 
time. — Orat. xxix. 12, p. 371, Gregory thus addresses an Imperial 
officer of revenue ((pooojv aTroypcKptuc) : dwoypacpe, \xr\ rovg iiiovg 
Xoyovg £7ri[Ae\£jQ, <bv ovdkv r\ \iiKpbv to KepFoe, 77 elg a/eoiyc x^P lv 
Kal rjdovriv, aXXa rbv l\xhv Xabv buiajg teal (piXavSpwTnog. 

1 Carmen ix. Insomnium de Anastasice Templo., p. 78, line 1 et 
seq. 

2 Compare Constitut. Apostol., ii. 57, 58, torn. i. p. 266, edit. 
Cotel. Cleric. 

8 Orat. xlii. 26, p. 767. Gregory says of his pulpit : Kal 7; j3ia- 
Zoficvrj KiyicXig, avrrj rolg tteoI tov Xoyov u)$ri£ofj,kvoig. 



192 HIS PRIVATE LIFE [SECT. III. 

scribes how his hearers, differing as they did in taste 
and education, had expected, some of them a plain 
discourse, and easily understood; others, a more laboured 
discussion, that should go into more profound investiga- 
tions; but he, with powerful voice and ardent mind, 
still preached the Trinity in Unity, and combated all the 
opposers of the doctrine. In the conclusion, he describes 
the impression usually made upon his hearers by his 
address; how some of them had been carried away by 
powerful excitement to audible tokens of approbation; 
others, absorbed in silent meditation, would fain conceal 
the inward struggle of their souls; others, again, had 
been provoked to contradiction ; so that the congrega- 
tion, as a whole, might have suggested the impression 
of a stormy sea : yet all of them, even the most 
passionately excited, were again conciliated by the 
charm of eloquence. 

It appears from some expressions of Gregory, and 
chiefly from the facts themselves, that through the 
influence of his addresses many were confirmed in 
their belief in the Xicene confession of faith, and many 
who had dissented from it were persuaded to adopt 
it. Granting that the circumstance, that Theodosius 
showed himself favourable to the orthodox, may have 
contributed much, nay, most of all, to the great revo- 
lution of opinion which took place about that time 
among the inhabitants of Constantinople, still a con- 
siderable portion of that alteration was brought about 
by the beautiful, ardent orations of Gregory, as much 
distinguished by their logical force as pervaded with a 
spirit of truth. But he produced this effect not only by 
his oratory but by his life, which gained over the hearts 
of men, while his refined addresses sought to convince 



CHAP. IV.] AT CONSTANTINOPLE. 193 

their understandings. If, in disputing against his 
opponents, his language was occasionally severe, harsh, 
and bitter, yet the tone and temper of his actual life 
was so much the milder, more benevolent, and tolerant ; 
and it was evidently the aim of his animated efforts to 
reconcile by love his partially embittered antagonists, 
not to himself, but to the faith, with which his whole 
soul was filled. 1 From this source proceeded his truly 
christian cod duct during the persecutions which he had 
to endure, especially in the first part of his residence in 
Constantinople. The private life, also, which Gregory 
led there was calculated to infuse into men's minds a 
feeling of good- will, and particularly of respect and 
reverence towards him. "Without being repulsive and 
misanthropic, he was extremely strict and retiring, 
maintaining the dignity which a life of abstemious 
simplicity, a life dedicated to God, and entirely devoted 
to the unseen world, bestows. He lived alone, avoided 
publicity, and never obtruded himself upon the society 
of the great, or at court. 2 He practised, therefore, in 
this, what Julian, who knew well what gave authority 
to the priest, required with strictness from his heathen 
priesthood. 3 Gregory's table was so simply furnished, 
his apparel so entirely limited to necessity, his conver- 
sation so unaffected, his whole appearance so unpretend- 
ing, so contrasted with (alas ! even in those early days) 
the ostentatious parade of that period, that they even 
reproached him with a coarse, unpolished, clownish 
demeanour in the refined and polished Constantinople ; 



1 Carmen de Vita sua, line 1415 et seq. p. 22. 

2 Carmen de Vita sua, line 1424 et seq. p. 23. 

3 Julian. Epist. 49, p. 431. Fragment., p. 302. 

O 



194 Gregory's farewell oration, [sect. hi. 

a reproach which fell back upon those who could not 
recognise the noble spirit under that homely covering. 

Gregory himself exhibits to us these circumstances l 
in a passage of his Farewell Oration, which is also re- 
markable for containing a pointedly severe side-glance 
at the luxury of distinguished ecclesiastics of that clay : 
' Men have reproached me (he says, in cutting irony) for 
my richly-furnished table, my splendid clothing, my 
public train and equipage, my proud bearing towards 
opponents! Certainly, I was not aware that I ought to 
vie with the first officers of state and most distinguished 
generals, who know not how to squander their money 
fast enough; nor that I was obliged to torment my 
body by spending on it, in waste, the goods which belong 
to the poor, so that poverty should be made to supply 
our superfluity, and the altar itself be profaned by our 
intemperance. I knew not that I was particularly 
obliged to be drawn by sleek horses, to ride in a splendid 
carriage, and be attended by a troop of flatterers, in 
order that every one might remark my approach even 
afar off, and be forced to move aside, or draw back out 
of the road, as at the approach of a wild beast ! If this 
ignorance was wrong in me, so it has happened, and I 
hope you will pardon it. Choose another spiritual ruler, 
and one who may please the multitude, and leave me to 
my solitary life, my rustic demeanour, and my God, 
whom even with my poor simplicity I hope to please.' 

From the previous account, it is clear that Gregory 
was quite the man whom the Church of Constantinople 
at that time required. He possessed eloquence which 



1 Orat. xlii. 24, p. 765. Compare therewith, Orat. xxvi. 6. 
p. 639. 



chap, v.] Gregory's fame. 195 

captivated all who heard him ; he had received a scientific 
education, which he was able to make an ingenious use 
of in producing a thorough conviction; he practised a 
strictness of life which commanded respect, coupled with 
a gentleness which won men's hearts, and an unwearied, 
ardent zeal, which overpowered all opposition. Thus 
he collected, united, confirmed his little community — 
inspired them with a new spirit of peace among them- 
selves, of undaunted courage in things external; drew 
their attention from a love of dogmatic disputing to 
self-knowledge, and an active, living Christianity, while 
at the same time he defended the doctrines of the 
common faith with all the acuteness of the most prac- 
tised dialectician. Thus he endured patiently, and 
contended courageously; and when the day of victory 
drew near, he made use of it without becoming insolent 
and eager for persecution — without allowing his attention 
to be drawn off from the Invisible Helper to the visible 
protecting hand ; from the heavenly source of life to the 
dispenser of earthly dignity, possessions, and enjoyment. 



CHAPTEE V. 

GREGORY'S FAME : HIERONYMUS (JEROME) BECOMES HIS SCHOLAR : 
THE RELATION IN WHICH HE STOOD TO THE PHILOSOPHER, 
MAXIMUS. 

The public labours of Gregory at Constantinople, and 
his private life, were certainly such as fully to deserve 
an honourable acknowledgment; and his reputation, 
commencing as it did from that centre of the empire, 
and point of union between the east and west, could not 

o 2 



196 HIEROXYMUS BECOMES [SECT. III. 

but spread most rapidly in all directions. We must, 
therefore, think it very natural if nearly contemporary 
writers, such as Rufhnus, 1 Ambrose, and others (not to 
mention those of the Eastern Church) speak of Gregory 
with great distinction, or, if younger theologians attached 
themselves to him, in order to form themselves on his 
discourses, and to benefit by his conversation. At that 
time, amid the sensible want of institutions for theolo- 
gical education, it became a matter of necessity for 
younger persons to choose especially some one of the 
distinguished Fathers of the Church as their guide and 
instructor. This practice we find existing also in the 
history of other sciences and arts, so long as they exist, 
to a certain extent, in the natural way, and no regular 
schools, academies, or whatever else they may be called, 
have been formed around them. As pupils around some 
great painter of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, 
so, at the time we are writing of, disciples, old and 
young, assembled round some celebrated theologian. It 
is true that we have properly authenticated accounts of 
only two scholars who enjoyed the society of Gregory 
at Constantinople \ but of those two there was one who 



1 Ruffinus had also translated Gregory's writings into Latin. 
Hieronyni. advers. Rumn., lib. 1, tom. ii. p. 486 : cur scribere aliqua 
ausns sis, et virani disertissinium Gregorium pari eloquii splendore 
transferre. The same Rufnnus, in the preface to his Translation 
of the Orations of Gregory, expresses an opinion upon his merits 
which almost borders upon idolatrous worship. He calls Gregory 
( vir per omnia incomparabilis ;' and. among other things, says 
of him : ' Id obtinuit apud Dominium et ecclesias Dei nieriti, ut 
quicunque ausus fuerit doctrines ejus in aliquo refragari, ex hoc 
ipso, quia ipse magis sit hereticus arguatur. ITanifestum namque 
indicium est, non esse rectae fidei hominem, qui in fide Gregorio 
non concordat.' A lamentable error surely, if any mere mortal 
man, with his doctrinal opinions, is to be regarded as the rule 
and standard of the true faith ! 



CHAP. V.] HIS SCHOLAR. 197 

outweighs many others — Hieronymus, or S. Jerome, the 
most learned of the Western Fathers. When now ap- 
proaching his fiftieth year, Jerome, attracted by the fame 
of Gregory, travelled from Syria to Constantinople, not 
only to hear his public addresses, but also, and parti- 
cularly, to profit by his domestic instruction in the 
expounding of Scripture. The master was not much 
older than the scholar; and the scholar was himself 
already famous as a learned man. Jerome, nevertheless, 
never speaks of Gregory in any other terms but those of 
the greatest reverence. In several places of his writings 
he calls him, with grateful recollection, his master and 
catechist, 1 and expressly remarks, that he had learnt 
much from him in the exposition of Scripture ; 2 nay, he 
particularly glories in his eloquent master. 3 Yet he 
relates an anecdote, 4 the point of which is that, in the 
exposition of Holy Scripture, Gregory did not every- 
where express the grounds with perfect simplicity, but 
even employed his eloquence in a delusive way, more 
with a view to persuasion than conviction. When on 
one occasion Jerome asked his master, l how a difficult 



1 A dvers. Jovianum, lib. i. torn. ii. p. 260. Et prceceptor meus 
Gregorius Nazanzenus (for so Jerome is wont to write the word) 
virginitatem et nuptias disserens, graecis versibus explicavit. 
— Epist. 1. ad Domnionem, torn. i. p. 235. Gregorium Nazan- 
zenum et Didymum in scrip turis Sanctis catecliistas habui. 

2 DeViris illustrious, cap. cxvii. Gregorius, vir eloquentissimus, 
praeceptor mens, qno scrip tnras explanante didici. Comp. Com- 
mentar. in Jesai., cap. vi. 

3 Contra Rujjinum, lib. i. torn. ii. p. 469. Numquid in ilia 
epistola Gregorium, virum eloquentissimum non potui nominare? 
Quis apud Latinos par sui est? quo ego magistro glorior et exulto. 

4 Epist. lii. adNepotianum, torn. i. p. 261. Jerome not altogether 
unjustly, though somewhat harshly expressed, adds the remark : 
( nihil tarn facile, quam vilem plebeculam et indoctam concionem 
linguae volubilitate decipere, quae, quicquid non intelligit, plus 
miratur.' 



198 HIERONYMUS BECOMES [SECT. III. 

passage in St. Luke was to be understood V he referred 
him to the explanation he would give of it in the church, 
adding, 6 there you will be forced, by the approbation of 
all the people, to understand what you do not now 
understand; or else, if you alone do not assent, you 
alone will be charged by all with folly.' 

Jerome, moreover, gives us a remark which his master 
was accustomed to make on a passage in the Epistle to 
the Ephesians, 1 where the apostle finds in the true 
relation of the husband to the wife a type of the relation 
between Christ and his Church. The remark refers 
particularly to those words of St. Paul — c This is a great- 
mystery,' 2 and is as follows : ' Observe, how great is the 
mystery of this clause ; for the apostle, while he refers it 
to Christ and the Church, yet asserts that he had not so 
expressed it as the dignity of the testimony required. 
But however he may have expressed it, this I know, 
that the passage is full of inexpressible mysteries, and 
requires a divine heart in the expositor. But I, after 
the limited powers of my mind, fully believe that it is 
to be understood of Christ and the Church, not as if it 
(the type) were something higher than Christ and the 
Church, but because it is difficult to explain of Christ 
and the Church all that is said of Adam and Eve.' An 
expression which certainly leads us to conclude that 



1 Ephes. ch. v. 32. 

2 Comment, in Epist. ad Epliesios., lib. iii. torn. vii. p. 661 : 
Gregorius Nazanzenus, vir valde eloquens, et in scripturis apprime 
eruditus, cum de hoc niecuni tractaret loco, solebat dicere : vide, 
quantum istius capituli sacramentum sit, ut Apostolus in Christo 
illud et in ecclesia interpretans, non se ita asserat, ut testimonii 
postulabat dignitas, expressisse : sed quomodo dixerit, scio quia 
locus iste ineffabilibus plenus sit sacramentis, et divinv/m, cor 
qucerat interpretis, &c. 



CHAP. V.] HIS SCHOLAR. 199 

Gregory did not exactly comprehend the meaning of 
the apostle in this passage, and that he stretched his 
illustration too far. Though this, at the same time, 
affords us a proof with what reverence he handled the 
Holy Scriptures, and what weight he attaches to this 
qualification of an expositor, that he should he animated 
with a holy tone of mind, akin to the mind and spirit 
of their inspired authors. 

We have no farther information respecting Jerome's 
intercourse with his master. 1 It is probable, however, 
that under Gregory's guidance he conceived that especial 
reverence for Origen which he manifested in the early 
part of his career, but afterwards, frightened by the 
ghost of orthodoxy, so blameably denied. It is probable, 
also, that Gregory contributed particularly to that in- 
clination to allegorical interpretation, which in so many 
instances obscured the great qualifications of Jerome for 
Biblical exposition. At the same time he probably 
conceived, in his intercourse with Gregory, a still 
greater partiality for the Greek Fathers, and acquired 
still greater readiness in the knowledge of the Greek 
language, 2 and so became better qualified for making his 
honoured Greek masters more accessible to the Western 
Christians by means of translations. 

Another scholar of Gregory was Evagrius, from 
Pontus, who likewise is said to have been instructed 



1 Jerome's residence with Gregory may have lasted for two 
years. He came to him a.d. 3/9. or 380,, and probably continued 
in Constantinople till Gregory left it. Kow, as Gregory came 
from Nyssa to the Synod at Constantinople in the year 381, 
Jerome must have heard him recite his treatises against Eunomius. 
— Hieron. de Vir. Illastr., cap. cxxviii. 

2 The conversation between Gregory and Jerome was carried on 
in Greek, as the former did not understand Latin. 



200 THE PHILOSOPHER. MAXIMUS. [SECT. III. 

mainly by him in the knowledge of Holy Scripture 
and in philosophy. He was Gregory's archdeacon in 
Constantinople, and subsequently, after sundry turns 
of fortune, betook himself to the solitude of the Xitriac 
Desert, where, besides his reputation for learning and 
eloquence, he especially distinguished himself as a 
follower of the opinions of Origen. 1 The instruction of 
Gregory had. without doubt, made him an admirer of 
Origen : but Evagrius did not confine himself within 
the limits which his master observed, who was only a 
moderate admirer of that great philosophical theologian, 
without approving all his opinions. 

Gregory made an experiment quite of a different sort 
from his acquaintance with his grateful scholar, Jerome, 
in the person of a pretended philosopher, named 
Jfaximus, whom he somewhat thoughtlessly and too 
good-naturedly admitted to his intimate confidence. 
This person, who seems to have been of a striking ex- 
ternal appearance, arrived in Constantinople not long 
after Gregory had established himself there. Belonging 
to the class of adventurers, of whom there was no small 
number at that time, this artful individual combined the 
rough vulgarity of a cynic, as well as the seeming eleva- 
tion of a christian ascetic, with much external ornament 
that strongly betrayed a fondness for the vanities of the 
world. 2 Thus, to mention only one instance — he had his 
sleek black hair dved auburn, and let it hang in long 
artificial curls over his shoulders. He wore, however, 
with this the coarse philosopher's mantle which the 



1 Sozom, Hist. Fed., vi. 30. 

2 Greg. Orat. xxv. in several places; and especially the Carmen 
de Vita sua, line 754:, et seq. p. 12, where there occurs a detailed 
description of Maxinrus. 



CHAP. V.] THE PHILOSOPHER, MAXIMUS. 201 

early christian ascetics had adopted, and carried a stout 
cynic-staff, He was born in Alexandria, of a family 
which, according to his own testimony, reckoned 
martyrs among its members; nay, he extolled himself 
as having confessed the true faith under heavy trials. 
What brought him to Constantinople is not quite 
clear; if we could believe an irritated opponent, it was 1 
hunger, combined, probably, with quite as much of 
ambition. 

When Maximus first came to Constantinople, he pre- 
possessed Gregory to the highest degree; he knew how 
to play the hypocrite, and to accommodate himself to 
the part. Being soon introduced to Gregory, he ex- 
hibited himself to him as the most courageous and 
zealous advocate of the Nicene creed, who had suffered 
much on account of his orthodoxy. 2 He did not fail, 
moreover, to be a constant attendant on Gregory's 
preaching, and to extol his discourses in the highest 
terms. 3 Gregory, full of good-natured confidence, and 
not endowed with a quick discrimination of human 
character (a talent which in his previous life of retire- 
ment he had not been able to acquire), gave his heart 
quite unreservedly to the stranger, whom he took for an 
honest and pious man, received him into his house and 
at his table, consulted him as a friend on the most im- 
portant concerns, 4 and even allowed himself, out of 



J Gregor. Carm. de Vita sua, line 777, p. 13. 

2 His orthodoxy, however, is said not to have been raised above 
the reach of all censure. He is charged with Apollinarianism. — 
Theodoret, v. 8. 

3 Carm. de Vit. sua,^ line 814, p. 13. Gregory quite candidly 
remarks how this Maximus used to praise his sermons ; Kat tojv 
kfjLwv ttoo^v/joq aipsrrjg Xoyiov. 

4 Carm, de Vit. sua, line 809, p. 13. 



202 THE PHILOSOPHER, MAXIMUS. [SECT. III. 

excessive regard for him, to commit the weakness of 
delivering a public eulogium upon him. 1 

But the unsuspecting Gregory was soon awakened 
from his delusion by the most painful experience. The 
hypocrite threw off the mask; he that had been so 
simple and meek made his appearance as a man of un- 
bounded ambition and deep stratagem. It was discovered 
that Maximus contemplated nothing less than to over- 
turn his patron and benefactor, and to seat himself in 
his place in the episcopal chair. A presbyter of 
Gregory's church was implicated with Maximus in this 
undertaking. This person, whom Gregory 2 calls a 
barbarian, not only by his origin, but also in his tone of 



1 Orat. xxv. p. 454. This discourse, certainly, commonly bears 
the inscription, ' On the philosopher, Hero/ but it can scarcely 
be doubted that this Hero is the same person as Maximus, 
according to the assertion of Jerome, who might well be accurately 
informed on the subject, and, undoubtedly, would not have made 
the remark (which did not tell to his master's advantage) were it 
not to be depended upon as true. Hieronym. {de Vir. lllustr., 
cap. cxvii.) reckons among the writings of Gregory, Laudes 
Maximi philosophi, post exilium reversi ; quern falso nomine qui- 
dam Heronis superscripserunt, quia est et alius liber vitupera- 
tionem ejusdem Maximi continens ; Quasi non licuerit eundem et 
laudare et mtuperare "pro tempore. It would seem from this, that 
the superscription with the name of Hero is altogether a fabrica- 
tion. It might be, however, that the same individual bore both 
names — the Latin Maximus, and the Greek Hero. At all events, 
Jerome's testimony as to the identity of the person is the more 
unexceptionable, as it is fully confirmed by internal proofs. 
There is no inducement to quote anything from this eulogium. I 
will only make this remark : The philosopher, Maximus, listened 
quietly to his own extravagant praises in the presence of a large 
audience ! And Gregory himself says : ' Even in this the man 
shows his philosophic mind, that he allows himself to be praised, 
and patiently endures to be famous ; for I wish not to praise him 
in order to please him (we know the indifference of philosophers 
to praise and fame), but to profit ourselves thereby; for praise 
should stir up an emulation in the path of virtue. ' 

z Carm. de Vit. s., line 825, p. 13. 



CHAP. V.] THE PHILOSOPHER, MAXIMUS. 203 

mind, appears to have stood at the head of the presbyters, 

in immediate proximity to the bishop; and, without 
having ever been offended by him, was very ill-disposed 
towards him, probably from envy. Maximus had besides 
a still more powerful but distant confederate, in Peter, 
bishop of Alexandria, who, though he had greeted 
Gregory by letter, on his arrival at Constantinople, as 
the legitimate head of the christian community there, 1 
had yet now changed his mind, to the disadvantage of 
Gregory, vvliat had caused this change we are not 
informed; jealousy of the Constantinopolitan bishop on 
the part of the Alexandrian bishop was most probably 
at the bottom; and Peter wished to promote to the 
episcopal chair of the metropolis a man through whose 
agency he might rule over that see also. Perhaps the 
Meletian schism also operated on this occasion, since 
the Alexandrians took side with Paulinus; but Gregory 
befriended Meletius. In no case can we adopt the 
supposition of Gregory Presbyter, 2 who, in order to 
account for the conduct of Peter, imagines that the 
bishop of Alexandria was gained by the gold of 
Maximus, for effecting which, at least at the commence- 
ment of the transaction, no funds, or means of raising 
any, were at the command of Maximus. 

Through his connexion with Peter of Alexandria, the 
following circumstance occurred, with the view of 
assisting Maximus. At first, seven persons, sea-faring 
men, whose services were to be commanded for a small 
compensation, came to Constantinople from Egypt, in 
order to explore the actual state of things. Gregory 
gives us their several names, — viz. Ammon, Apammon, 



1 Carm. de Vit. s., line 858, p. 14. 2 Vita Gregor., p. 146. 



204 THE PHILOSOPHER MAXIMUS. [SECT. III. 

Harpocras, Stippas, Khodon, Anubis, 1 Hermamibis. 
The parties who bad sent these men out as spies soon 
followed (i, e. some of the Alexandrian clergy), for tbe 
purpose of supporting tbe views of Maximus. An 
accidental circumstance favoured tbe enterprise. 2 Just 
at that time a presbyter from Thasos came to Constanti- 
nople with a considerable sum of money, for the purpose 
of purchasing slabs of Proconesian marble for the 
adorning of a church. Maximus succeeded in wheedling 
him out of the money, probably by opening to him 
brilliant prospects. When by this means a venal multi- 
tude, who had often been loud in praise of Gregory, had 
been gained, 3 Maximus one night, while Gregory was 
lying sick in bed, went with his troop of followers 
(consisting chiefly of sailors) into the church, for the 
purpose of being consecrated, without any notice thereof 
to the community, or to those who presided over them ! 
The proceeding was already in full progress, when, 
towards dawn, the clergy who dwelt near the church 
discovered the disgraceful enterprise. The report 
rapidly spread through the city. A vast number of 
inhabitants and strangers, orthodox and Arians, and 
even persons in offices of state, flocked to the church; 
the Egyptians, gnashing their teeth at the frustration of 
their design, were forced (though without altogether 
relinquishing it), to leave the church, They betook 
themselves to the dwelling of a player on the flute, in 



1 Gregor. Carm. de Yit. s., line 834, p. 14. Gregory playfully 
describes them as Egyptian deities : 

AlyVTTTOV &eol, 

IIc&tyKo/iop^oi Kai Kvvudeig daifioveg. 

2 Carm. de Yit. s., line 875, p. 14. 

3 Carm. de Yit. s., line 887, p. 14. 



CHAP. V.] BANISHMENT OF MAXIMUS. 205 

order to continue there, in a manner worthy of them, 
the holy ceremony they had commenced, 1 while they set 
about the important task of cutting off from the bishop 
they were going to consecrate, the beautiful head of hair 
which he had cultivated with so much pains. Such 
were the circumstances under which he received conse- 
cration ! And thus the whole affair resolved itself into 
a farce, which certainly could have no influence in 
altering the external position of Gregory, but yet left 
behind so much the deeper wounds on his mind. 
Maximus, covered with shame, betook himself, accom- 
panied by his Egyptian confederates, to Thessalonica, 
where Theodosius was stationed with his army to oppose 
the Goths; he was determined to make the last efforts 
with the emperor himself. He was, however, repulsed 
by him, or (if 2 Gregory has not exaggerated in his 
account) driven away in complete disgrace. Maximus 
on this returned to Alexandria, and, being reduced to 
extremes, presented himself before the aged bishop, 
Peter, his late protector, with a demand, ' that he would 
either procure for him the bishopric which he had en- 
couraged him to hope for, or relinquish to him his own/ 3 
The imperial lieutenant, however, in order to put an end 
to the vexatious presumption of the ambitious swaggerer, 
banished Maximus from Alexandria. 4 



1 Greg. Carm. de Yit. s., line 909 et seq. p. 15. 

2 Carm. de Yit. s., line 1003 et seq. p. 16. 

3 Carm. de Yit. s., line 1019, p. 16. 

4 The enterprises of this adventurer did not, however, end here. 
He betook himself to Italy, with letters which he had extorted 
from Peter of Alexandria, and laboured to prove to the Western 
bishops — and particularly Ambrose, bishop of Milan, and Da- 
masus, bishop of Rome — 1st, the regularity of his own consecra- 
tion to the see of Constantinople (to which, he said, nothing was 
wanting but that, owing to the persecution on the part of the 



206 Gregory's oration to [sect. hi. 

Treacherously as Gregory had been treated by the 
Bishop of Alexandria and a portion of the Egyptian 
clergy, yet he appears to have been reconciled to them 
again; for there were in his nature, combined with a 
certain degree of irritability, great placability and 
gentleness. We have an oration by him, which is 
entitled, On the Arrival of the Egyptians. 1 It was 
delivered on the occasion of the sailors of an Egyptian 
fleet (which had brought the annual tribute of corn 2 to 
Constantinople) attending Gregory's church, and receiv- 



Arians, it had not been celebrated in the church) ; and, 2ndly, 
the irregularity of Gregory's election. And he so far succeeded, 
that the Western clergy zealously applied on his account to the 
Emperor Theodosius, and moreover, among other things, said : 
In concilio nuper habito nihil habuimus, in quo de episcopatu 
ejus (Maximi) dubitare possemus .... quin revera attendebamus 
Gregorium nequaquam secundum traditionem patrum Constanti- 
nopolitana? ecclesige sibi sacerdotium vindicare. If any one wishes 
for an exact account of the farther fate of Maximus, let him consult 
Pagi's Critica in Ann. Bar., ann. 379, Nos. 8 — 10, torn. i. p. 552 ; 
and Tillemont's Memoires pour serv. a VHist. Eccles., t. ix. pp. 501, 
536. At a subsequent period, Maximus came out as an author, 
in a work wherein Gregory appears to have been occasionally 
attacked. The latter contented himself with playfully despatch- 
ing the new author, Maximus, in a short poem (Carm. 148, p. 249). 
Among other things he says, he appeared among the writers as 
Saul among the prophets — that he had qualified himself for the 
attempt, as an ass who would play the lyre : 

Aoyoi de aoi tot* rjaav, <bg ovtp \vpa, 
Kai (3ov(ri KV[ia, icai Zvybg SaXaGcrioig. 
Personal dislike, however, on the part of Gregory seems to 
have carried this censure too far. Jerome, at least, {Be Viris 
Illustrib., cap. cxxvii.) judges quite differently concerning the 
literary production of Maximus; if, indeed, by the Insignis de 
Fide adversus Arianos Liber, he means the same work which 
Gregory jests at. 

1 Or at. xxxiv. p. 619 et seq. 

2 Gregory describes beautifully, and like a painter, the arrival 
of the fleet in the harbour of Constantinople. — Orat. xxxiv. 7, 
p. 622. 



CHAP. V.] THE EGYPTIAN SAILORS. 207 

ing the holy sacrament from his hands. 1 Gregory 
greets these Egyptians with great joy and feeling, and 
repeatedly calls them his people, because they had 
received the one Faith from the same teachers and Fathers, 
and, with him, worshipped a Trinity in Unity. 2 He not 
only loads the Egyptians with praises, but also glorifies 
expressly their teachers, and, amongst these, Athanasius 
and their bishop, Peter. He calls this last f the successor 
of Athanasius (by him so highly venerated), not only in 
the episcopal chair, but also in purity of doctrine and 
real dignity, who still, most nobly, followed up the 
struggle of his triumphant predecessor for the good 
cause.' 3 



1 Orat. xxxiv. 7, P. 622 : .... (jiroborovjiev yap kcli yjfieig, 
Kal (TiTodofriav iffcoe rrjg vperspag ov (pavXorepoV cevre, (payers 
top kjibv aprov, Kal Triers divov, ov (ceicepaKa vpXv, 

2 Orat. xxxiv. 6, p. 621. 

3 Orat. xxxiv. 3, p. 620. A hesitation may be felt as to the 
particular time at which to place this oration. TTas it delivered 
before Gregory discovered the ambiguous character of Peter's 
sentiments by the vexatious transactions with Maximus ? or does 
it belong to the period following those transactions ? and had 
Gregory already so entirely forgiven the Egyptians and their 
Bishop, as to be able to speak so strongly in their praise ? The 
last assumption, probably, deserves the preference, as Gregory, 
at the very commencement of the speech, thus expresses himself : 
1 1 will greet the strangers from Egypt, since that is but just to 
those who have so readily assembled here, and overcome all feel- 
ings of envy by the influence of a higher zeal (rqj %r)\q) rbv (p$6vov 
viKiiaavrec).' And, again, it is confirmed by an expression in the 
continuation of the discourse, where Gregory offers reconciliation 
to his foreign hearers, and says he was willing, before so many 
witnesses, visible and invisible, to offer his hand to them, and to 
Not out the old calumny by neio acts of kindness (jcai arroSov/LLai 
rraXaidv oiaj3o\rjv vea xprjVTOTrjri, § 6, p. 621). This probably 
refers to the harsh expressions which Gregory had uttered against 
Peter and the Egyptians, and for which he now again was willing 
to make atonement. 



208 GREGOEY WITHHELD FROM [SECT. III. 



CHAPTER VI. 

GREGORY IS WITHHELD FROM LEAVING CONSTANTINOPLE ALTOGETHER, 
BUT WITHDRAWS HIMSELF EOR AWHILE INTO THE COUNTRY : 
HIS STRONG SENSE OP THE BEAUTIES OP NATURE. 

It was either on the day after the nocturnal farce of 
Maximus and his party, or soon after, that Gregory, in 
the course of a sermon, suffered these words to escape 
from him, which seem to indicate his determination to 
leave Constantinople. 1 ( Preserve, then, (he says,) the 
entire doctrine of the Three in One, which, as an open- 
handed father, I have communicated to you, my dear 
children, and think affectionately of my labours amongst 
you.' Scarcely had the people heard these words, when 
there arose among all of them the most lively emotion, 
and they all united in most urgent entreaties to Gregory 
that he would still continue with them. Gregory was 
deeply affected by this proof of affection. It required, 
perhaps, only this expression of regard, in order again 
to smother in his mind that wish for a complete with- 
drawal which had arisen from a momentary displeasure, 
although he himself attests that it cost him a severe 
struggle. As Gregory — in the presence of the assembled 
congregation, thus suppliantly urging him in his beloved 
church, Anastasia — stood wavering in his determination, 
one of the people decided the matter by calling out in a 
loud voice — ' Thou banishest with thee at the same time 
the Trinity in Unity from Constantinople.' 2 These 



1 Carmen de Vit. s., line 1057 et seq. p. 17. 

2 Carmen de Vit. s. line 1100, p. 18 : 2wEK(3a\tie, yap tins, 
GavTto rpiada. 



CHAP. VI.] LEAVING CONSTANTINOPLE. 209 

words filled Gregory with earnest anxiety; and he now 
pledged his word to the Church that he would not leave 
them, yet without confirming that promise (as they had 
desired) by an oath, for he had made a vow at his 
baptism never to take an oath again. He promised 
them, however, at least, to remain so long a time, until 
an assemblage of bishops, soon expected to take place, 
should have determined about the bishopric of Con- 
stantinople. 

Great as was the love and sympathy which Gregory 
experienced from his congregation through the whole of 
this proceeding, so much the stronger was the impres- 
sion made upon his mind by the behaviour of Maximus ; 
the more implicitly* he had confided in the ungrate- 
ful hypocrite, the more fearfully he had been deceived 
by him. The already delicate health of the pious man 
was still more shaken by this storm; and his deep, 
though slumbering, love of contemplative solitude awoke 
afresh so strongly, that he could not resist the impulse 
to withdraw himself, at least for a considerable time, into 
the country. The delightful neighbourhood of Con- 
stantinople was most inviting for that purpose; and 
Gregory was by no means insensible to the beauties of 
Nature; although he somewhere confesses that, whilst 
his mind was painfully excited, he was fain, indeed, to 
wander in the solitary shade of the forest, but yet could 
not find there that healing of his grief, which only faith, 
and prayer, and a clearer perception of God's dealings, 
imparted. 1 As, however, these Fathers of the Church are 
thought of by some as merely earnest but gloomy 
ascetics, it is not superfluous to show that there were 



Carmen xiv. p. 
P 



210 HIS STRONG SENSE OF THE [SECT. III. 

individuals amongst them who, even on this point, had 
notions worthy of genuine Christianity and civilized 
humanity (for the Son of Man himself has given us here 
also the purest pattern), so that they retained a lively 
sense of natural beauty, and of those lessons which the 
finger of God has written in that large and copious book. 
With what delight (fondly taking in even the smallest 
objects) does Gregory describe the arrival of Spring, in 
an oration on the martyr Mamas, 1 whose festival fell 
upon the Sunday after Easter- day. 2 'All things (he 
says) combine, and are accumulated for the purpose of 
doing honour to this festive season : see how beautiful 
is all that meets the eye ! The queen of the seasons is 



1 The martyr Mamas was, in those times, especially honoured 
in the regions of Cappadocia and Pontus as a holy man. His 
memory does not appear to have extended farther at that time. 
Only two natives of Cappadocia, Gregory and his friend Basil, 
dedicated orations to his memory. (Basil. Opp. i. 11, p. 185 — 189.) 
But neither of them tells us much respecting the martyr, with 
whose history or legend every one in those parts was acquainted* 
Thus much only appears from the orations of the two friends : 
that Mamas was said to be a Cappadocian of obscure birth : that 
it was related of him that he gained a livelihood as a herdsman ; 
that on one occasion he was nourished by the milk of hinds in the 
solitude of the wilderness ; but that, finally (though we are not 
informed under what circumstances), he died the death of a 
christian martyr. Many forged additions were subsequently 
made to the story. Whoever wishes to learn all the legends con- 
cerning S. Mamas, may consult the Acta Sanctorum, August., t. iii. 
p. 423. The festival of Mamas was especially celebrated at 
Cassarea. It was there that Julian and his brother Gallus, whilst 
young men, built a church to his memory. — Sozom. Hist. Eccles., 
v. 2 ; Gregor. Or at. iv. 25, p. 88. The speech of Gregory, from 
which the passage above quoted is taken, was (according" to the 
testimony of Kicetas) delivered in a church of S. Mamas at Na- 
zianzum. In the succeeding centuries, the reverence for this 
martyr spread more widely, and we find, even in Constantinople, 
several edifices bearing his name. See Du Cange, Constantinop. 
Christiana, iv. 6, p. 128; iv. 12, p. 174 ; iv. 15, p. 185. 

2 Orat. xliv. 10, p. 841. 



CHAP. VI.] BEAUTIES OF NATURE. 211 

holding a festive pomp for the queen of days, 1 and 
brings as an offering all that is the most costly and 
beautiful of her stores. The sky is already brighter, the 
sun is already higher in the heavens, and more golden ; 
the moon's orbit is already more cheering, and the host 
of stars more bright; the waves are on more friendly 
terms with the shore, the clouds with the sun, the wind 
with the air, the earth with the plants, the plants with 
the eye. The fountains now flow more transparent ; the 
rivers, loosed from the bands of winter, run in fuller 
stream; the meadow smells sweetly; the plants swell; 
the grass is being mowed ; and young lambs are frisking 
on the fresh green plains. The ship now issues forth 
from the haven with loud, and often with holy songs; 2 
it is winged with sails; the dolphin swims gaily around 
her, snuffing up, and again blowing forth the water in 
delight, while it accompanies the course of the mariner. 
The husbandman now puts his plough in order, and 



1 The queen of the seasons is. naturally, the Spring; the queen 
of days is Easter-day, with which the above-mentioned festival 
was connected, as its octave. It might also be translated, ' The 
royal season celebrates a festive pomp (or procession) for the 
royal day.' 

2 . . . . avv Ke\ev(TiJLa(TL t Kal rovroig cog rd ttoXXcx cpiXoSeoig. 
The expression /csXeuo-fiara here doubtless signifies the cheerful 
songs of the sailors. Comp. Suid. Lex., torn. ii. p. 293, sub verbo 
Ke\ev(TTi]c, and Pollux in Onomast., i. 96, torn. i. p. 67, where also 
an appropriate passage is quoted from Longus, lib. iii. : e'lc p.ev 
avrolg KeXevuTTjg vavriKag ycev cocag' ol Se Xoittol Kaza—so 
Xopbc, 6fio(piJvojQ Kara kciiqov ttjq kKtivov tpiovi]g Ej36ujr. Com- 
pare Pollux, sub verb. rpiavXrjg, iv. 71. In reference to these 
christian sea-songs, Sidonius Apollinaris (Epist. 10, Kb. ii., the 
observation on which in the Parisian edition, p. 147, is worth 
referring to) says thus : 

Curvorum hinc chorus helciariorum, 
Kesponsantibus Alleluja ripis, 
Ad Christum levat amicum celeusma — ■ 
Sic, sic psallite, nauta vel viator ! 

p 2 



212 HIS STRONG SENSE OF THE [SECT. III. 

looks up in prayer to the Giver of fruits ; he leads the 
ploughing-ox under the yoke, and divides the field with 
regular furrows, full of joyful hope. The shepherds and 
herdsmen now play their pipes in harmony; they re- 
commence their pastoral songs, and spend the spring 
amongst trees and rocks. The gardener tends his 
plants; the fowler prepares his rods and reeds, and 
looks up to the boughs to spy out their feathered 
inhabitants. The fisherman glances through the deep 
water, prepares his net, and takes his seat upon the 
rocks. The busy bee now spreads her wings; she 
leaves her hive, displays her sagacious instinct, and robs 
the flowers of their sweetness — let her be to you a 
pattern of industry and wisdom ! Now the bird builds 
its nest; one is sitting thereon, another glides softly 
into it, a third flits round about, making the wood ring 
with its note, and flying round the dwellings of men 
with twittering tongue. All things praise and glorify 
God with inarticulate voices; 1 for all things thanks are 
now offered to God by me; and thus that universal 
hymn is also ours, even that whose tones of praise I 
here express.' c Yes, it is now (the orator pro- 
ceeds, in allusion to the Easter festival) 2 the spring of 
the world, the spring of the mind; the spring for the 



3 Qcovcug dXaXrjroLC, properly and more strictly, 'with tones 
without speech/ with inarticulate tones. 

2 This oration was delivered by Gregory on the Easter-octave, 
which the Greeks called icaivr) Kvpiaici], or 7rpuJrr] KvpiaKi). Gregor. 
Orat. xviii. 29, p. 350 : . . . . r) kulvt] Traprjv rjfjispa rr\g eoprrjg, 
tjv ovTixJQ 6vofidZ l ojie.v 7rpoJT7]v icvpiaicrjv, fiera rrfv dvaGrdfJijiov 
Tavrrjv exovrsg. Gregory gives also the name of 'iyKciivia to the 
festival. The grounds for this designation lay in this, that Easter, 
the Feast of the Resurrection, and of the victory over death and 
the grave, was considered as the commencing-point of a new 
spiritual creation, and therefore as beginning a new ecclesiastical 



CHAP. VI.] BEAUTIES OF NATURE. 213 

souls of men, the spring for their bodies; the visible 
spring, the invisible spring; even that which we shall 
there participate in, if we are here transformed aright, 
and, having been renewed, enter upon a new and spiritual 
life.' Many other passages might be adduced, from 
which we might see how Gregory combines all the 
natural phenomena with something higher, finding alike 
in all of them revelations of the all-ruling God, and 
rules for leading a godly life. We confine ourselves to 
one, where, from the unceasing harmonious order of the 
universe, he deduces powerful exhortations to peace and 
concord. 1 ' Now, this character of oneness should attune 
us to benevolence and peace, to the imitation of God and 
godly works ; .... for even the heaven and the earth, 
and the sea, and this whole world, all this vast and glorious 
creation of God (through which God is silently revealed 
and proclaimed), is only so long a well-ordered system, 
only so long a work of unsurpassable skill and incom- 
parable beauty, as it maintains peace and unity with itself 
— as it remains within the appointed bounds of nature, 
never elevating one thing in opposition to another, never 
loosening the band of love wherewith the creative power 
divine has bound all together; but so soon as peace 
ceases to exist, 2 the order of the universe also ceases to 



year. Gregory here brings the spring- tide festival into connexion 
with this, and glorifies Easter, as at the same time the spiritual 
and temporal festival of spring and renovation. Thus, therefore, 
the oration has a threefold purpose — a regard to Easter-festival, 
and exhortations to moral renovation flowing from thence ; the 
festival of spring-tide ; and the honouring of the martyr Mamas. 
See Augusti's DenhiviirdigJceite, th. 2, pp. 302, 309, where there 
is also to be found a translation of the whole oration. 

1 Orat. vi. 14, p. 188. 

2 . . . . 6[iov dk tov eiprjvsveiv irkiravTai, kcli tqv tlvai 

KOGflOQ. 



214 Gregory's special oration [sect. hi. 

work aright. Does it not then appear to yon that the 
heaven, while, after an established order, it gives light 
to the air, and rain to the earth, obeys the laws of 
goodness? that the earth, while it affords nourishment, 
the air while it supplies breath to all that lives — and 
both thus everywhere support life — are types and figures 
of parental affection]' In this manner the orator, 
passing through the different kingdoms of nature, 
employs their striking phenomena in order to show to 
his hearers, that the same divine laws which prescribe 
love, kindness, harmony to men, are active also in 
nature, and speak from and through her to every 
susceptible mind. 

Gregory was now probably well inclined to leave 
Constantinople altogether; but his work was still in- 
complete, and he would have left his recently-collected 
and scarcely-settled congregation in a very fluctuating 
condition; he determined, therefore, at the urgent en- 
treaty of his friends, to return again to the capital, after 
a temporary refreshment of his soul and strengthening 
of his body. With what feelings he again appeared 
before his people, we have sufficient evidence in a 
special oration, beginning with these words : ] ' I have 
longed for you, my children, and have been in like 
measure longed for by you ; for of this I am convinced, 
and (if it were necessary) could even confirm it with an 
oath by that reputation which we have in Christ Jesus 
our Lord. 2 Nor can any one wonder at such affection 



1 Oral. xxvi. 1. p. 471. 

2 Gregory subjoins : tovtov yap \ioi TrsTroirjKE rbv ookqv to 
TTvevfia to tiyiov, — for the form of the oath which Gregory uses is 
borrowed from the Apostle Paul, 1 Cor. xv. 31. On this account 
he did not think it incorrect to make use of it himself, although. 
in general, he had renounced a formal oath. (See above, p. 49,) 



CHAP. VI.] TO HIS PEOPLE. 215 

between you and nie, for they who are influenced by one 
common spirit are also animated by one common love; 
but they who feel a like love have also a like faith. For 
what the one does not feel himself, he cannot well 
believe of the other's feelings ; but he who sympathizes 
in feeling is also more inclined to agree in opinion — he 
becomes, as it were, an unseen witness of an unseen 
sympathy, and a mirror to the (spiritual) form of 
another. Therefore, I could no longer bear to be at a 
distance from you, although the state of affairs here has 
deeply afflicted and mortified me, — not only 1 moral and 
political affairs generally, but more especially those, more 
honoured and more dear, which relate to this holy 
building and this consecrated table.' 

It is a fact easily to be explained, but still to be 
lamented, that this oration of Gregory's, which over- 
flows with such heart-felt love for his congregation, and 
imparts so much that is excellent, also contains many 
bitter passages against the unworthy Maximus ; as, for 
example, the following : 2 Q I am afraid of dangerous 
wolves, which, taking advantage of the darkness of 
night, tear the flock in pieces by seducing and vehement 
harangues; they watch for the favourable moment, 
because they cannot succeed by open force. I fear the 
dogs, 3 which would force themselves into the character 
of shepherds, and, strange to say, have prepared them- 
selves for its duties by nothing else than that they have 
shorn off their hair, which they had suffered to grow 



1 That is, the whole character and behaviour of the inhabi- 
tants, so offensive to the mind of Gregory. 

2 Orat. xxvi. 3, p. 473. 

8 An allusion to the Cynic. See like passages in Orat. xxvi. 3, 
p. 474. 



216 Gregory's special oration [sect. hi. 

after a ridiculous fashion ; who have neither continued 
dogs, nor yet become shepherds, except that, like dogs, 
they tear to pieces, destroy and make havoc of the 
labours of others.' Towards the end of the discourse he 
strongly declares (without any angry reference to 
Maximus) 1 that the possession of the envied bishopric 
of Constantinople was not an object of importance to 
him. l Do they wish to thrust me from the episcopal 
throne ? When have I ever, in present or in past time, 
willingly ascended it ? or when have I extolled them as 
fortunate who have been seated on it 1 Would they 
rob me of the highest ecclesiastical dignity ? Wlmt man 
of sense has ever considered that point as an object of 
great desire ? But now, according to my view, it is 
the first proof of a sound understanding to escape from 
it altogether — this dignity, on account of which all our 
relative duties are disturbed and shaken — through which 
the whole world is involved in mutual suspicion and a 
foolish war, a war to which no proper name has yet been 
given ! 2 that there were no Primate, no precedence of 
rank or station, no privileged predominance, so that we 
might be distinguished only by moral superiority ! But 
now, the privilege of standing on the right, or on the 
left, or in the middle — the higher or the lower place of 
honour — the walking before or in a line with others, have 
already furnished us with endless, foolish causes of 



1 Orat. xxvi. 15, p. 482 et seq. 

2 (hg 6(pe\6v ye fjirjde rjv 7rQosdpia, /ur}8e rig rowov TTpo- 

Ti/Jirjcng, Kcti TVQavviKi) 7rpovofiia, iV it aptrrjc /aovr/g yivioa- 
KUJfxe&a. It is hardly possible for any other words to express 
more plainly how pure a conception Gregory had formed of the 
character of an evangelical teacher, whose dignity rested on moral 
qualifications, and how far removed he was from resting that 
dignity on hierarchical distinction. 



CHAP. VI.] TO HIS PEOPLE. 217 

provocation, and brought into danger, not only the sheep 
of the flock, but also the shepherds, who, though masters 
in Israel, have not looked into this as they ought.' 

How strongly the moral welfare of his community 
interested the heart of Gregory, is also shown by the 
manner in which (in this oration) he requires an account 
from his hearers 1 whether, during his absence, they had 
held fast the pure faith, and proved their love by their 
deeds ; and then himself gives them an account of his 
care and anxiety for them during his residence in the 
country. 2 On this occasion, he sketches most gracefully 
the reflections which the view of the sea in a stormy 
state had called forth, and affords us a new proof how 
well he knew how to enjoy the appearances of ^Nature, 
so as to derive from them higher contemplative truths : 
' I wandered alone (he tells his hearers) by the sea-side 
when the day was far advanced, for I have accustomed 
myself to disperse my cares by recreations of this sort ; 
for the striDg will not bear to be always on the stretch, 
but requires occasionally to be loosened from the bow's 
end, if the archer would again use it without finding 
it unserviceable just when he would use it. Thus I 
wandered, my feet moving mechanically, whilst my eye 
swept over .the expanse of the sea. But this generally 
gratifying view was not so delightful as when the dark, 
purple-tinted waves rolled gently forward, and sported 
softly and pleasantly with the shore. But how was it 
now ? ( The sea arose by reason of a great wind that 
blew,' for I willingly use here the words of Scripture 
(S. John, vi. 18). The waves, as they are wont, in- 
creased in size as they approached from a distance — then 



1 Orat. xxvi. 5, p. 474 et seq. 2 Orat. xxvi. 7, p. 476. 



218 Gregory's reflections. [sect. hi. 

for a moment raised themselves to their highest elevation 
— again sunk, and discharged themselves on the beach ; 
or else they rushed back roaring on the neighbouring 
rocks, dispersing into light and frothy spray. There 
were now no little stones and sea-weed, no muscles and 
light oysters washed up, and, as it were, spit forth, while 
many were again absorbed by the retiring wave; but 
the rocks stood unmoved and unshaken, as if not in the 
least disturbed, except that the waves broke against 
them. From this prospect I thought I could derive a 
profitable lesson, and how I might refer it all to my state 
of mind, especially when I felt at all staggered at some 
occurrence, as has recently been the case. So I studied 
this spectacle not superficially, and the sight afforded me 
instruction. 1 Is not (said I to myself) the sea like our 
life, and like human concerns in general ? for there is 
there also as much of angry struggle and fluctuating 2 
instability. And the storms, — are they not the perse- 
cutions which originate from those causes, and all the 
unlooked-for trouble that befals us V On this, Gregory 
describes, in continuation of the figure, the christian 
sage — how he should stand firm, like the rock in the 
tempestuous sea, and like the spiritual rock, Christ 
(1 Cor. x. 4), on which he is firmly based; how he is 
unshaken by the threatening embarrassments of fate. 
He then goes on to delineate a truly pious and wise 
man, — how cheerful he is in all sufferings \ how from 
every misfortune he derives strength and nourishment 
for virtue; how, in time of joy. he is humble and 
thankful; in health, temperate, strict, active; in sick- 



1 To $rsct[ia Traicevfia yivsrai. 

2 v kararov, unstable, not to be depended upon. 



CHAP. VII.] BAPTISM OF THEODOSIUS. 219 

ness, patient ; in time of wealthy benevolent and ready 
to give; in poverty, rich in godliness; how he meets 
persecution with endurance, insult with prayer, cursing 
with blessing, ill-treatment with concession; and how, 
in everything, in word and quiet deed, he appears as a 
teacher of love and gentleness; in short, as a follower 
and imitator of his blessed Eedeemer. 

Gregory returned to Constantinople with renewed 
pleasure and improved strength. He saw his zealous 
services crowned with more favourable results than ever, 
while his small community were not only more settled 
and more peaceable among themselves, but also increased 
daily in numbers from without. It only required an 
external impulse, which was now fully prepared for, to 
complete externally also the victory of the orthodox 
party. How that impulse was given, we shall next see. 



CHAPTER VII. 

ARRIVAL OF THEODOSIUS AT CONSTANTINOPLE : TRIUMPH OF THE 
XICEXE FAITH : GREGORY FIRMLY REFUSES TO ACCEPT THE 
BISHOPRIC. 

Theodosius was brought up in the christian religion, 
and, undoubtedly, according to the decisions of the 
Xicene code of doctrine; 1 but, after the custom of the 
time, he had deferred his baptism. Having already, as 
Cassar, contended successfully against the Goths, he was 
attacked by an illness at Thessalonica, and caused him- 
self to be baptized by Acholius, the orthodox bishop of 



1 Sozornen. Hist. EccL. vii. 4 ek Tzooyovujv xP t(T " 

TiaviZwv Kara to coyfia rrjg Iv yiKccia crvvodov. 



220 ARRIVAL OF THEODOSIUS [SECT. III. 

that city.! He learned on this occasion, from Acholius, 
with as much satisfaction that all the provinces, as far 
as Macedonia, were attached to the orthodox faith, as he 
heard with displeasure that, eastward thence, Arianism 
predominated, and that it had its established seat in 
Constantinople especially. Under the influence of that 
bishop, the newly-baptized emperor, while still in Thes- 
salonica, 2 published that celebrated edict, whereby the 
Mcene faith is declared to be catholic and established, 
but the adherents of Arianism are loaded with reproaches, 
and threatened with punishment, 3 without considering 
what a different thing it was to give the word of com- 
mand at the head of an army, and to prescribe laws to 
the conscience. That Theodosius did not at the same 
time proceed to inflict punishment upon the Arians, is 
to be attributed to political prudence, rather than genuine 
toleration. For the number of Arians was still so o<reat 



1 Sozoni., vii. 4. Socrat., v. 6. 

2 Sozomen says : vojiov sic Qe(raa\ovLK7]Q TrpoesQiovijcre T(p 
CrifjLci) KovcrravTivovTroXeajg. This, however, is not correct ; 
since the edict referred not only to the inhabitants of Constan- 
tinople, (to whom, however, it was probably first published,) but 
to all the subjects of Theodosius. 

3 Cod. TheocL, lib. xvi. tit. i. 1. 2. The edict thus speaks : 
Cunctos populos, quos Clementice nostra? regit teniperamentiun, 
in tali volumus religione versari, quam Di^nuni Petrurn Apos- 
tolum tradidisse Romanis, religio usque nunc ab ipso insinuata 
declarat : quarnque pontificem Daniasuni sequi claret, et Petrurn 
Alexandria? episcopum, viruni Apostolicge sanctitatis : Ut secun- 
dum Apostolicam disciplinum, evangelicamque doctrinam Patris 
et Filii et Spiritus Saacti unam Deitatem sub parili Jlcjestate. et 
sub pia Trinitate credamus. Hanc legem sequentes, Oh ristia noru in 
Catholicorum nomen jubemus amplecti : Ileliquos vero dement es 
vaesanosque judicantes, hceretici dogmatis hijamiam sustinere : 
nee conciliabula eorum ecclesiarum nomen accipere, divina primum 
vindicta, post etiam motus nostri, quern ex codesti wrbiirio sunip- 
serimus, ultione plectendos, — Dat. iii., Kai. Mart. Thessal. Grat. 
et Theod. A. A. Coss. 



CHAP. VII.] AT CONSTANTINOPLE. 221 

in the whole empire, especially in the chief city, that, 
if provoked by violence, they might easily become 
dangerous to him. Yet many overheated members of 
the orthodox body (who wished to see everything changed 
at a stroke, to their advantage) do not appear to have 
been satisfied with this enforced moderation of Theo- 
dosius; in this view, however, Gregory did not par- 
ticipate. 1 

On the 24th of December, a.d. 380, Theodosius came 
to Constantinople, and two days after he gave to the 
bishop, Demophilus, the head of the Arian party in 
Constantinople, the bitter choice, either to adopt the 
Nicene confession of faith, and unite himself to the 
Catholics, or to vacate the churches of the metropolis. 2 
Demophilus was firm enough to choose the latter 
alternative. After considering how difficult it would be 
to withstand power, 3 he assembled his followers in the 
church, and, presenting himself before them, said, ' My 
brethren S it is written in the Gospel, ' if they persecute 
you in one city, flee ye to another.' Since now the 
emperor shuts us out from the churches, be it known to 
you, that to-morrow we shall meet outside the city.' 4 



1 Greg. Carm. cle Vita sua, line 1287, pp. 20, 21. "Gregory 
rather praises Theodosius for having done no violence to men's 
conscientious convictions — a praise ' which would have been no 
slight merit had Theodosius but deserved it. In reference to the 
freedom of religious conviction, Gregory says on this occasion, 
(line 1293, p. 21)— 

Ov yap Kct-EipyEiv, dWd tteiSsiv Ivvofiov 
Elvtti vofii^io, icai irpbg 7)[iujv re. TrXtov 

AVTWV T 8K8LVUJV, OVQ ^Stjj 7TpO(Ja%OfJLEV. 

2 Sozom., vii. 5 ; Socrat., v. 7. 

! 3 XoyiuaiLtvoc. (bg %a\£7rov 7rpoc Kpstaaovag dvri- 
TriTTTSlV. 
* Socrat., v. 7. 



222 TRIUMPH OF THE NICEXE FAITH. [SECT. III. 

With these words he left the church. The Arians had 
been forty years in possession of the churches of Con- 
stantinople. 1 

Gregory, on the contrary, the courageous defender of 
the now highly-favoured faith, must naturally have been 
most graciously received by Theodosius. The emperor 
greeted him, at their first meeting, with extreme respect, 
conversed for a long while with him, and closed the 
interview with these words : 2 ' This temple' (the principal 
church of Constantinople) ( God delivers up to thee by 
our hand, as a reward for thy devoted labours,' words 
which Gregory (as he himself says) may have thought 
incredible, had they not afterwards been verified by the 
result. In fact, such a transfer of the principal church 
of Constantinople, from the hands of the Arians into 
those of the orthodox, might well appear, even with the 
intervention of the imperial power, something still 
doubtful, on account of the numbers of the Arian party. 
A vast portion of the inhabitants of Constantinople were 
thrown into a state of stormy excitement by this order 
of the emperor; and when the day arrived on which the 
orthodox should actually take possession of the church, 



1 The great body, however, of the Arians did not at first give 
the matter up as lost. They held meetings, and endeavoured, by 
means of persons moving in the immediate society of the emperor, 
who were favourable to Arianism, to work upon Theodosius. The 
emperor was already inclined to enter into a conference with 
Eunomius, the celebrated defender of Arian opinions, and then 
living in retirement at Chalcedon : but he was kept from doing- 
so by the empress, Flacilla. who was over-anxious for the 
orthodoxy of her husband. — Sozom., vii. 6. At the same time 
the orthodox Bishops offered everything, in order to confirm the 
emperor in his Xicene convictions, and employed for that purpose 
some veiy palpable motives, one of which is also adduced in 
Sozomen, vii. 6. 

2 Carm. de Vit. sua. line 1305 et seq. p. 21. 



CHAP. VII.] TRIUMPH OF THE NICEXE FAITH. 223 

all the streets and public places were filled with persons 
of all ranks and ages, with men and women, old men 
and children, who lamented, wept, shouted, and threat- 
ened. Constantinople resembled a city that had been 
taken by assault. 1 The church of the Apostles 2 was 



1 Gregor. Carm. cle Vita sua, lines 1825 — 1336, p. 21. 
8 Tilleniont, the Benedictine editors, and others, assume that it 
was the church of S. Sophia which was given up to Gregory as the 
chief church of the city. They give, however, no proof of this, and 
I doubt much that any can be given. I rather believe, on the 
following grounds, that it was not the church of S. Sophia, but 
the church of the Apostles. The church of S. Sophia is neither 
expressly named anywhere in Gregory's writings, nor is there 
any actual allusion to it. The church of the Apostles, on the 
contrary, is several times noticed by him. He not only men- 
tions it as the celebrated burying-place of the Constantine family 
(Orat. v. 17, p. 159: rbv aoiciiiov Tujv'ATroaToXwv ar]Kov, 61 dry 
to upbv ykvog Kal viztc^avro Kal cia6v\arrovai) } but he also 
expressly designates it as the church in which he preached. In 
Orat. xlii. 26, p. 767, he takes leave of the Apostles, as dwellers 
in the church : x aL P ETS 'AttogtoXoi, j) KaXr) ^eroiKta, oi ifxoi 
ci£a<TKa\oi Trig aSrXfitrstpg . . . . : and in the poem upon his beloved 
church, Ana stasia, the only church, mentioned in connexion with 
it is that of the Apostles. In Carm. ix. line 57, p. 79, Gregory 
thus extols Constantinople : 

Sijolc ovoavioiaiv ayaXXsrat e^oxov aXXtuv. 

Srjolg roig wot' e/aolq, vvv ye fiev dXXorpioig. 

'Evv roig Kal fisydXavxov ecog Xjoiotoio [xaSrjruv, 

UXevpalg <JTavpoTV7roig rkrpaxa re\xvb\xevov. 

'AAA.' ov roGcrog l\ioi ys TroSog Kal dXygg liceivtov, 

"Ocrcroc. ' Avaaraahig, Brj^Xekfi vararirjg. 

Here Gregory notices, among the most distinguished temples of 
Constantinople, only the Apostles' Church — adding, that that 
was not so dear to him as that of Anastasia. He would certainly 
have mentioned the church of S. Sophia had it been the cathedral. 
Therefore, under the words, 6 fxeyag vabg ovrog Kal TrepLdorjrog 
{Orat. xlii. 26, p. 766), I understand, not the church of S! Sophia, 
but that of the Apostles. Both these churches, as it is well 
known, were built by Constantine the Great ; but the Apostles' 
Church, which Constantine had at the same time destined for his 
burying-place, was manifestly distinguished by greater splendour 
and a certain show of preference ; which also the narrative of 
Eusebius (De Vita Constantini, iv. 58 — 60) displays very 



224 TRIUMPH OF THE NICEXE FAITH. [SECT. III. 

strongly occupied by well-armed soldiers. Gregory 
himself, who was just then particularly bowed down by 
sickness, walked, breathing feebly, but full of confidence, 
by the side of the stately, warlike emperor, towards the 
temple. The morning was gloomy. The heaven had 
concealed its light behind heavy clouds, and appeared 
unfavourable to the enterprise. The Arians already began 
to exult in this sign from heaven, and the orthodox to be 
dispirited ; when it came to pass, that as the emperor 
and bishop, with their followers, entered with songs of 
praise the holy building, and raised their hands to God 
in prayer, a bright sunbeam broke through the clouds, 
and filled the temple with the most cheerful light. The 
orthodox now thought they might be fully satisfied, 
that God also approved and favoured their proceedings. 
This last circumstance, in particular, is noticed by 
Gregory with great vivacity, in his poem about his own 
life (line 1336—1370). 

Amid the joy of this victory, the assembly had but 
one wish, which they also soon made known by loud 



pointedly. The church of S. Sophia, even as it was renovated 
and enlarged by Constantius (Socrat., i. 16), does not appear to 
have surpassed that of the Apostles. It was not till the time of 
Justinian that the church of S. Sophia became the most splendid 
monument of the renovated Greek style of architecture, which 
combined within its vast extent all that the art and pomp of those 
times could produce. It is from that date that it appears to have 
become decidedly the principal church of Constantinople. Notices 
respecting the earlier history of both churches are to be found in 
Du Cange, Const ant inopolis Christiana, iii. 1, p. 1; iv. 5, p. 105: 
and respecting their ancient and modem history at the same time, 
in Von Hammer's Constant inopol is, vol. i. pp. 335, 388, et seq. 
At all events, if the question is about a cathedral-church at Con- 
stantinople towards the end of the fourth century, the choice can 
only be between the church of S. Sophia and the church of the 
Apostles. I would, however, decidedly vote for the latter. 



CHAP. VII.] GREGORY REFUSES THE BISHOPRIC. 225 

cries, — viz. that Theodosius would give them Gregory 
as their actual bishop. A tumultuary call of the whole 
multitude, even of the women and persons in authority 
who were present, announced this desire. The emperor, 
perhaps, was not disinclined to comply with the wish, 
but Gregory could not make up his mind to accept the 
actual appointment to the bishopric, or, at least, to allow 
himself to be elected in this way. In the meanwhile, 
he was so seriously indisposed that he felt himself quite 
incapable of addressing the people. He therefore 
requested another clergyman to speak to the assembly 
in his name, in the following words : ' Cease, I pray 
you, cease from this loud call ! Now, before all things, is 
the time for thanksgiving — hereafter for other matters.' 
This decided refusal was received very favourably, as 
well by the emperor, as by the people, who were now 
again appeased. (Carm. de Vit. sua, line 1371 — 1391, 
p. 22.) All ended quietly and without violence; only 
one sword was drawn, and that put again without blood- 
shed into its sheath. 1 After the orthodox party had 
been put in possession of the principal temple and other 
churches and ecclesiastical buildings in Constantinople, 
the church property also, and revenues, which were 
before under the control of the Arians, passed over 
to the dominant party; and Gregory undertook the 
management of the same. This church property was, 
as Gregory himself indicates, very considerable, the 
valuables, in vessels and the like, extremely rich and 
splendid : 

1 Carm, de Vit. s., line 1394, p. 22 : 

"Ocrov yvfivojSev sv %i(pOQ, izakiv scno 
HecreTv 



226 DISPLEASURE OF THE [SECT. III. 

To b* €K TOCTOVTCDV XpypUTCDV ^pv\\oV[JL€VCOV, 

T £lv oi [JLeyLCTTOL rcov o\r]s olKOVfievqs 
NaoTs i^-qaavpi^ov £k ttclvtos XP° V0V > 
KeifxrjXlcDv re Ka\ Tropcov tcqv 7rdvTO%ev. 

Gregor. Carm. de Vita sua, line 1475, p. 23. 

That Gregory managed these riches conscientiously 
we may be sure, from his truly exalted notions concerning 
selfishness and avarice. 1 Indeed, his numerous enemies 
would have certainly brought bitter reproofs against him 
if he had not done so. His highest gratification, like 
that of his mother, consisted in acts of benevolence. 
He dared to boast, and with justice, that if all the clergy 
thought as he did in reference to the possessions of the 
Church, things would not be in so sad a condition as 
they were in many Churches : 

Et 7rdvres ovtcos i(j)p6vovv els xPW aTa » 
Ovk av ttot ovdev toiov iv €KKkrj(riais 
Ufjpcop? avevpeiv. 

Carm. de Vit. sua, line 1491, p. 24. 

The displeasure of the Arian party at this transaction 
was not strong enough to break out in actual resistance. 
The joy of the hitherto-oppressed orthodox party was 
the livelier on that account; and, as the convictions, 
especially the religious convictions of — alas ! — so large 



1 We may here rely entirely on the known sentiments of 
Gregory. His character was so completely raised above suspicion 
of selfishness, that he does not even hesitate to remark, how all 
the riches of the Church were delivered up to him, without 
finding as much as a catalogue thereof among the papers of the 
former bishops — without a treasurer giving any account of them, 
and without having himself called in any stranger (^kvov, probably 
a secular officer) to make a list of them, because he did not wish 
to make the possessions of the Church thus to become generally 
known. — Carm. de Vit. sua, line 1479 et seq. p. 23. 



CHAP. VII.] ARIAN PARTY. 227 

a portion of mankind take their tone from external 
circumstances, that is to say, from the influence of the 
ruling power, so now many persons were found, who 
had hitherto thought it advisable to be Arians, but who 
soon saw their error, and, being converted by such pal- 
pable arguments, joined in the triumph of the orthodox. 1 
Gregory soon found an opportunity of expressing his 
joyful feelings at this change of things. On a martyr's 
festival, which the Arians were not in the habit of keep- 
ing, he came forward, for the first time, with an oration 
in the church which had been transferred to him, and 
at the same time introduced the banished martyrs afresh 
into the temple. On this occasion he delivered a short 
address, 2 in which he thanks the martyrs for having so 
triumphantly assisted the professors of the pure faith in 
their recent contest. 3 Much that is excellent is con- 
tained in particular parts of this oration; it is, never- 
theless, unpleasant to find it over-seasoned, here and 



1 Such persons, bishops and laymen, Gregory points to in very 
strong language. Carm. adv. Episc, line 335, p. 24. Toll. : 

Trjv wifJTiv afMpidstiioi, Kaioibv vofMovg 
Ov tovq Qeov G&j3oVT€Q. 

2 Orat. xxxv. pp. 629—632. 

3 . . . . evyt, u) Maprvpeg' vfisrspog Kal ovrog 6 a$\og' vfielg 
veviKrjKare rbv iro\vv woXefAov, ev olda. If the remark made 
above be correct, that Gregory for the most part delivered his 
orations in the church of the Apostles, we have then probably to 
understand here, the apostles under the name of the martyrs. 
Nay, all the apostles were considered martyrs (even S. John, 
though after a different notion of martyrdom) ; and we have the 
Apostles* Church expressly called fiaprvptov by Eusebius (De Vita 
Constant. j iv. 58). I myself, however, do not attach much pro- 
bability to this supposition, and would not omit to refer the 
inquirer to the Acta Sanctor. Major., vol. ii. p. 409, where the 
Feast celebrated on the 13th of December is appropriated to the 
Armenian martyr s — Eustratius, Auxentius, Eugenius, Mardarius, 
and Orestes. 

Q2 



228 HIS FORBEARANCE [SECT. III. 

there, with too harsh reproaches and sallies against the 
now conquered Arians. 1 One might suppose, from par- 
ticular expressions which we here meet with, that on 
the side of the Arians there was nothing but what was 
base and diabolical, and, on the orthodox side, pure 
light and freedom from error; whilst it is manifest that 
there was a mixture of both on both sides. And we 
cannot suppress the wish that Gregory could always, 
and everywhere, have exhibited that mild forbearance 
which he generally recommended so strongly by word 
and deed, and which, in the sequel, he exercised in so 
noble a manner. As a proof of this, an incident that 
occurred somewhat later may here be related, as it is 
adapted to reconcile us again with Gregory, and to prove 
that those bitter and harsh expressions against enemies 
and offenders, which we occasionally hear from his 
mouth, did not proceed from habitual acrimony of 
disposition, but from an excitable temperament. 

Somewhere about this time, Gregory was confined to 
his bed by sickness, 2 when there entered into his 
chamber some of the common people, and among them 
a young man in a black dress, with a pale face and long 
hair. Gregory, alarmed, made a movement as if he 
would jump out of bed. The men, after they had said 
something civil, by way of greeting, again retired; but 
the young man stayed behind, threw himself at the feet 
of Gregory, weeping, speechless, beside himself. To the 
bishop's questions, c Who art thou ? — whence comest 
thou ? — what dost thou want V he replied only with still 
louder lamentation. He shed tears, he sighed, he wrung 



1 See particularly Orat. xxxy. 2, 3, pp. 629, 630. 

2 Greg. Carm, de Vita sua, line lii'2 — 1475, p. 23. 



CHAP. Till.] TO AX ENEMY. 229 

his hands, so that Gregory himself was moved to tears. 
When at length he had been removed by force ; one of 
those who were present said, c That is thy murderer ! 1 
God has guarded you from his intended blow, and he is 
now come hither, impelled by his own conscience — a 
wretch in his design of murder, but generous in his self- 
accusation j his tears make an atonement for the blood 
he intended to shed.' Gregory, shuddering at this 
account, said to the young man, c God preserve thee ! 
That I, whom He preserveth, should bear myself merci- 
fully towards thee, is nothing great. Thy daring deed 
hath made thee mine; see, then, that thou henceforth 
walk worthily, as one who belongeth to me and God.' 
This mild forbearance operated with extraordinary in- 
fluence upon the inhabitants of Constantinople, and won 
many hostile hearts to friendship with Gregory. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

GREGORY PERSISTS IN REFUSING TO ACCEPT THE EPISCOPAL DIGNITY : 
HIS PRANK BEHAVIOUR TO ALL CLASSES OP PERSONS. 

Gregory had certainly escaped with success from the 
first ebullition of popular favour, when, on taking pos- 



1 A plot, therefore, had been formed against his life by one of 
his most violent opposers — on what occasion we know not 
exactly. It was probably on the day when the orthodox party 
took possession of the principal church under the protection of an 
armed force. The words in the Carmen de Vita sua, line 1394, 
p. 22, may refer to this : ( Only one sword was drawn, but that 
was soon replaced in its sheath.' Certainly he must have been 
an extremely bold man who would have dared to attack Gregory 
on that day, when he was so strongly guarded. The young man, 
however, to whom the above account relates, appears to have 
been a person of a fiery and wild energy. 



230 GREGORY PERSISTS IN REFUSING [SECT. III. 

session of the church of the Apostles, he was to have 
been forced to accept the episcopal dignity; but there is 
great probability that the people renewed that effort with 
redoubled violence, and that they one day took him by 
surprise, and placed him, in the literal sense of the 
word by force, on the episcopal seat. A passage in his 
thirty-sixth oration seems decidedly to point to this, 
where he says, 6 This fact (namely, that Gregory could 
not always treat in a very friendly manner his ob- 
trusively zealous admirers) was abundantly shown at 
your recent act of violence towards me, when you (that 
is the people), carried away by zeal and passion, and 
regardless of all my reclamation and complaint, seated 
me on the episcopal seat, an appointment about which I 
am not quite resolved whether I should speak of it as 
hierarchically binding, or as a mere act of tyranny and 
compulsion. 1 But you have even seated me there, 
performing an illegal act, from pure zeal and affection. 
On that occasion, I expressed my anger with such 
special heat against some persons, that they have been 
alienated from me, and their love has suddenly turned 
into hatred !' 2 

This occurrence gave Gregory occasion to declare 
himself openly concerning the bishopric of Constanti- 
nople. It is in his thirty-sixth oration that he does 
this. He first of all puts the question, what could it be 
that thus attached his hearers to him, like iron to the 



1 . . . . rbv ovk old' sirs TvpavviKov %p>) \syuv, sire apxispa- 
racov. There is here, perhaps, some play upon words — that he 
did not know whether to designate the episcopal seat as that on 
which it is necessary a man should be placed by force^ or as that 
from which he might rule as a free agent. 

2 Orat. xxxvi. 2, p. 636. 



CHAP. VIII.] THE EPISCOPAL DIGNITY. 231 

magnet, since his discourses contained nothing par- 
ticularly pleasing or attractive, and since he did not 
affect to announce any new doctrine, but trod in the old 
footsteps 1 It consisted plainly in the consideration of 
a certain truth, in which the minds of his hearers were 
already interested,, who, in part at least, were scholars of 
the great bishop of Alexandria, the zealous defender of 
the doctrine of the Trinity in Unity. He accounts, 
however, for the affectionate, zealous attachment of his 
conoTeo-ation from the following causes : [ First, because 
they had themselves called him to his charge, for it was 
in human nature that every one should love most his 
own work, his own creation, his own possession — a 
remark which is very striking, and is confirmed in all 
times by the fact, that those congregations which call 
and elect their ministers, show a much higher degree of 
interest in them than those on whom they are imposed 
by superior authority. In the next place, they were 
pleased that he had nothing about him that was ex- 
travagant, violent, or theatrical, showy or flattering, but 
lived a retired, modest, temperate philosophical life. 
And, finally, it could not escape their notice with what 
annoyances, sufferings, and persecutions he was forced 
to contend, for the sake of the pure doctrine. But the 
sympathy thus called forth produced and elevated 
affection. 

After these considerations, Gregory defends himself 
against the charge of seeking to obtain the bishopric 
of Constantinople. 2 He must indeed (he says) be 
ashamed, if at his age, bowed down as he was with 
infirmity, he cherished such views; and strange were it 



OraL xxxvi. 3, p. 636. 2 Or at, xxxvi. 6, p. 638 et seq. 



232 HIS FRAXK BEHAVIOUR [SECT. III. 

to reproach him with lusting after the wife of another 
(i. e. the bishopric of Constantinople), when he had 
never wished for that which was his own (i e. the 
bishopric of Xazianzuni, or rather of Sasima). That, 
however, he had hastened to Constantinople in order to 
sustain the true faith, which was then in a tottering 
condition, deserved more praise than blame. 

This same discourse, from which the above is taken, 
and which was listened to by the emperor and court, 
and many distinguished and highly-educated persons, 
contains expressions 1 which so beautifully convey the 
frank and open sentiments of the christian teachers of 
that period (in which especially the noble-minded John 
Chrysostom spoke and laboured), that we cannot forbear 
to translate a portion of it, respecting which we may be 
allowed to wish, that it may be read by those who have 
the high calling of impressing the truth upon the hearts 
and minds of princes ! 

i Ye princes, (he is addressing the emperor and the 
princes,) do honour to your purple ! — for our discourse 
dares give laws even to the lawgivers — reflect how much 
is entrusted to you, and what is God's great hidden 
purpose with regard to you. 2 The whole world is 
subject to your hand, kept together and governed by a 
little sceptre and a small piece of cloth (the imperial 
purple mantle). All that is above in heaven is God ! s; 
all that is here below is yours. Be ye therefore, (that 
I may say something even bolder.) be ye also as 



1 Oral, xxxvi. 11, 12, p. 642 et seq. 

2 . . . . yiVixJGKSTS OGOV TO TTMJTEVZSV V\LIV, KCll TL TO fltyCl TTEpl 

vficig fiv(7Ti]giov. Kocr^oc o\oc virb x s ^ L ? a T1 ) v vfitTZpav, ciaci)~ 
fxart jjLitcpy Kai figaxu paKitij KQarovjiivoc. 



CHAP. VIII.] TO ALL CLASSES. 233 

gods, 1 for the good of jour subjects. < The king's 
heart is in the hand of the Lord; 2 so it is written, and 
so also we believe. Let, then, your power be founded 
thereon, (i, e. on God,) and not upon the abundance of 
gold, or upon armed troops. 

6 But ye, who surround the princes and the throne, be 
not proud of the power which is committed to you, nor 
look upon that which is transitory as eternal. Be 
faithful to the princes, but first of all to God, and for 
the sake of those who are given up and entrusted to 
you. Ye who glory in the nobility of your family, be 
noble in your moral habits ; or I shall be obliged to say 
something which, though certainly unpalatable, is yet to 
be accounted wholesome. Then only would your order 
be truly and in the highest sense noble, when no letters- 
patent of nobility shall have introduced into your body 
what is mean and ignoble. 3 

6 Ye - sages and philosophers, with venerable beards 
and mantles, ye professors and philologists, ye orators, 
who catch at the applause of the vulgar, truly I know 
not how you came to be called wise men, since the first 



1 Literally so, dsoi yevsvSrs ; not as flattery, but expressed after 
a manner familiar to Gregory, according to which the holy and 
the godlike in man is designated as God ; but here it is attended 
with the additional idea of godlike oene^cence. 

2 Proverbs, xxi. i. 

3 i. e. when no unworthy persons are raised to the rank of 
nobles ; when it is only an order of genuine merit. The Greek 
original is somewhat difficult : tots yap aXrjSeg evyev&cTTaTov tjv 
av tl to vfJLSTipov, el jjlt) kcu SsXtoi tovq dvcryevalg vjjXv tveypacpov 
(literally, ' if the patents of nobility did not also enrol the un- 
worthy amongst you'). That SsXtoi, with Gregory, meant e pa- 
tents of nobility,' is proved by another passage, where he censures 
those who are proud of their new nobility. Carm. viii. line 29, p. 76 : 

Ovtoq 8' evyevsTrjg Tvfifioig (ppovsajv fxeyaXoiaiv, 
*H deXToig okiyyai veoypacpov a\yia XeXoyx&g, 



234 HIS FRANK BEHAVIOUR [SECT. III. 

principle (of all wisdom) is wanting to you. And ye 
rich men, hear him who saith — " If riches increase, set 
not your heart upon them." (Psalm lxii. 1 0.) Know 
that ye are trusting to an uncertain thing. Lighten 
thy ship somewhat, that thou mayest sail the lighter; 
probably thou art wresting something from thy enemy, 
to whom all that thou hast shall fall a prey. And ye 
lovers of pleasure, withdraw something from the body 
and bestow it on your soul ; see, the poor man is nigh 
at hand — relieve the sick, spend freely on him some 
portion of your superfluous wealth. What need is 
there you should both suffer — thou from repletion, he 
from hunger ? — thou from intemperance, he from thirst ? 
— thou, while thou loadest thyself with satiety and 
over-fulness, he while he totters from exhaustion and 
wasting sickness 1 Overlook not the poor ( Lazarus' in 
this life, that you may not hereafter become ' the rich 
man in torment.' And ye, inhabitants of the great 
city, the first next after the first (Eome), and ye who 
scarcely even allow that priority, be ye then the first, 
not in wickedness, but in virtue; not in disorderly 
living, but in a life of well-ordered sobriety. For how 
disgraceful is it to rule over the cities, but suffer your- 
selves to be mastered by your lusts ; or to be wise and 
intelligent in other things, whilst by horse-races, and 
play-going, and betting, and hunting, you reduce your- 
selves to such folly and madness, as to look upon such 
things as the proper business of life 1 ? and thus the first 
of cities, which properly ought to be a pattern to others 
in all that is good, is become a city full of mere triflers ! 
O that ye would put off that character, and be indeed 
God's city? that your names stood written in God's 
register now, and that hereafter ye may be presented, 



CHAP. VIII.] TO ALL CLASSES. 235 

together with us, pure aud in a pure form, to the great 
Builder of cities ! Such are the blessed instructions I 
bring unto you, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ ; 
to whom be honour and glory and power, for ever and 
ever ! Amen !' 

Thus freely, and independently of the influence of the 
great and mighty, did Gregory speak; and in the same 
spirit he also acted. We have seen how graciously and 
encouragingly he was received by Theodosius. 1 It 
would therefore have been an easy thing for him to 
obtain all the favour and influence of a court-ecclesiastic. 
But this had no charm for one like Gregory; on the 
contrary, he considered it becoming his own dignity, 
and the dignity of Him whom he served, to visit the 
court, and especially the great men of the court, but 
seldom \ and he left to others of the clergy, whom he 
despised, to mount by flattery to honours and preferment. 2 
Gregory had the pride of one who would not obtrude 
himself onerously upon a great personage. 3 Yet he did 

1 Gregory was anything rather than blinded by the favour which 
he had experienced at the hands of Theodosius. He expresses 
himself very quietly concerning the emperor — nay, he betrays a 
certain coldness, when, for instance {Carmen de Vita s., line 1282), 
he says of him, civSpioTrog ov icatcbg jiev, k.t.X. (' not a bad sort 
of man/ &c.) 

2 Carmen de Vitas., line 1424 et seq. p. 23; and Carmen ad- 
vers. Episcopos, in many passages. These ecclesiastics, to whom 
religion was an object of avarice and ambition, are called by 
Gregory %pi(T7£jLi7ropof, traders in Christ. Carm. de Vita s., line 
1756, p. 28.^ 

3 Orat. xlii. 19, p. 761 : .... a Suvaursiav f)ya7rn<ja, rj Spovojv 
v-i/og, rj fiaviXewv TrarCiv avXag, firjde aXXo n Xcijjnrpbv f%ot/Ji, 
r} pi-^aLfii KEKrnfikvog. And especially Carm. de Vit. s., line 1432, 
p. 23: 

Movog 7ro$rsi(T&ai fiaWov r) fiKJuaSr' eyvajv, 
JLal rip <J7raviuj to (TSf.ivbv TjfXTroXrjrrdfirjv, 
0£<£ ra7roXXa Kal KaSapou 7TQ0Gvkfxu)v, 
Tiuy de Koarovvruv rag Svpag dXXoig cidovg. ( 



236 HIS FRANK BEHAVIOUR. [SECT. III. 

not so bear himself in this respect as to play the part of 
an arrogant, retiring, eccentric person; but when he 
was invited, he appeared even at the imperial table, and 
at the other entertainments of the great men. That, 
however, such hours did not leave upon his mind the 
most agreeable recollections, is shown by a poem 1 which 
he wrote at a subsequent period in his retirement. In 
that composition he extols his heavenly freedom, in 
contrast with those painful moments when he sat silent 
and melancholy at the imperial table — when he was 
obliged by courtesy to press respectfully the hands which 
had shed so much blood — and when, as a special act of 
grace, he was permitted to touch 2 the imperial beard. 
With as little satisfaction does he speak of the birthday, 
wedding, and funeral-feasts, which he could not avoid 
attending. 3 It may be fancied that Gregory, who had 
given up so great a portion of his life to solitary retire- 
ment, did not possess the heart and accomplishment of 
partaking in such things in a cheerful but innocent 
manner ; but undoubtedly it was rather the case that his 
mind (devoted as it was to the higher good) made these 
pleasures insipid to him, while his strict earnestness 
rendered the luxury and extravagance that prevailed on 
such occasions offensive and objectionable to him. He 
was like an Elijah, or a John the Baptist, among that 
thoughtless generation. Far happier were the days he 



1 Carmen ix. pp. 79 — 81. 

2 Carmen ix. line 59 : 

Ov Bvnrov fiaGiXijog ofisariog wg roirdpoi^Ev 
FpriyopioQ SvXaicy fjpa (j)&pu)v 6Xiyi]v. 
And -again, line 65 : 

OvSt %spac (poviovg TTpocnrrvZofiai ovvk yeveiov 
Apa%ofiai 9 tig r' oXiyijg clvtitv^Civ %dpiTO£, 

3 Carmen ix. lines 67 — 75, 



CHAP. IX.] SECOND (ECUMENIC COUNCIL. 237 

spent in calm repose, than they would have been in 
those brilliant circles. Even the solitary hours of night 
he gladly devoted to prayer, holy songs, and pious con- 
templations, deriving spiritual strength for his active 
duties from the source of all that is spiritual and all 
that is strong. 1 



CHAPTER IX. 

THE SECOND (ECUMENIC COUNCIL AT CONSTANTINOPLE IN THE 
SPRING OF A.D. 381 : GREGORY IS REGULARLY CHOSEN BISHOP : 
HIS REASONABLE PROPOSALS ARE NOT LISTENED TO. 

After Theodosius, by several edicts, especially that of 
January the 10th, a.d. 381, 2 had expelled the Arians, 
and the more insignificant parties connected with them, 
from all church property, and made the professors of 
the Nicene faith the sole predominant party, he wished 
to give complete sanction to this measure by an assembly 
of bishops from all parts of the Eastern empire, in 
which the ancient rule of faith might be renewed, and, 
if it were necessary, more exactly defined and com- 
pleted. At the same time, he wished to see some 



1 He describes this his ascetic life in several passages ; but par- 
ticularly in Carm. adv. Fpisc, line 54, p. 9 et seq. ; line 576, 
p. 54 ; and Carm. iv. p. 72. 

2 Cod. Ttieod., lib. xvi. tit. v. de Hceret., 1. 6, where, among 
other things, we read : Null us hsereticis mysteriorum locus, nulla 
ad exercendi animi obstinatioris dementiam pateat occasio. . . . 
Nicaznce fidei, dudum a majoribus traditae et divinse religionis 
testimonio atque adsertione firmatse, obseryantia semper mansura 
teneatur ; PJwtiniano? labis contaminatio, Ariani sacrilegii vene- 
num. Eunomice perfidiae crimen et nefanda, monstruosis nominibus 
auctorum, prodigia sectarum ab ipso etiam aooleantur auditu . . . 
Gunctis orthodoxis episcopis, qui Nicasnam fidem tenent, Catho- 
licse ecclesisB toto orbe reddantur. Dat. iv. Id. Januar. (a.d. 381.) 



238 SECOND (ECUMENIC COUNCIL [SECT. III. 

settled arrangements made respecting the bishopric of 
his chief city, Constantinople. For these purposes the 
council of the Church was actually convoked by him at 
Constantinople in the spring of the year of our Lord 381; 1 
an assembly which had been talked of for some time, 
and to whose future determinations Gregory had already 
referred, when it was attempted to impose the bishopric 
upon him by force. It was quite consistent with the 
whole previous proceedings of the emperor, that he 
should invite particularly those bishops from whom he 
could expect an agreement with the Mcene confession 
of faith. 2 According to this regulation, they are 
reckoned (as it is well known) 150 in number, and, on 
that account, the assembly is also called plainly, 'The 
Synod of the 150 Bishops.' Those of the greatest 
weight amongst them are, Meletius of Antioch, Helladius 
of Csesarea, Gregory of ISTyssa, Amphilochius of Iconium, 
Diodorus of Tarsus, and Cyrill of Jerusalem. Other 
parties, however, besides the decidedly orthodox, were 
not entirely excluded from the assembly; for Theodosius 
had expressly invited the Macedonians with the hope 
of an union ; and there appeared no less than thirty-six 
of their bishops, principally from the neighbourhood of 
the Hellespont. The most distinguished among them 
were Eleusius of Cyzicus, and Marcianus of Lampsacus. 
The emperor and the other bishops made every effort 
to induce them to receive the Nicene confession of faith \ 
but they declared firmly against it, left Constantinople, 



1 Socrat.. v. 8 ; Sozom., vii. 7 ; Theodoret., v. 1 y 8 ; ITansi's 
Collect. Conciliorum, t. iii. p. 523 et seq. 

2 Socrates says thus : 6 /3a(n\evg crvvodov Wigko'xuv rrjg avrov 
7ri(TTSioc (JvytcaXsi, S7rl to Kparvvai rr\v Iv IsiKaia ttigtiv, kcli 
^uooTovriaai rrj KuvcrravTivov 7roXst S7rio*K07rov. 



CHAP. IX.] AT CONSTANTINOPLE. 239 

and exhorted their respective communities, by letters, 
not to unite themselves with the professors of the 
Mcene doctrine. 1 No mention has been handed down 
to us of the presence of a single Western bishop in this 
assembly; nay, it is certain that Theodosius had called 
together this synod without consulting the Eoman 
bishop, Damasus, 2 and that no persons took part in the 
proceedings as his representatives. It must have dis- 
pleased Damasus still more that a person, whom he, 
with all the "Western and Egyptian bishops, had not 
recognised as in legitimate possession of the episcopal 
dignity, there exercised the most decided influence, and, 
at first, even enjoyed the precedence in the assembly of 
bishops. Meletius, the venerable bishop of Antioch, an 
aged man, universally honoured for his mildness and 
piety, certainly at first presided at this meeting of eccle- 
siastics; but subsequently (as it is highly probable) 
Gregory of Nazianzum himself. The aged Meletius is 
described by Gregory (who had a particular affection 
for him) as a genuine angel of peace, simple, of an 
unsophisticated nature, full of heavenly sentiments, 
which beamed from his tranquil eye, but, at the same 
time, courageous and decided. 3 He was, therefore, 
excellently qualified for acting as president of such an 



1 Socrat., v. 8. Sozom., vii. 7. 

2 No one has shown this more clearly and fully than the cele- 
brated French scholar Edmund Richer, in his excellent Historia 
Conciliorum Generalium, lib. i. cap. 5, pp. 169 — 197- Edit. Colon. 

3 Carm. de Vita sua, line 1514, p. 24. 

T Qv r)v awnp 7rpo£c\oo£ evaepecrraTOQ, 

'AttXoVC, OLT^VOQ TOV TQ07TOV) $EOV yEflUJP, 

B\s7ru)V yaXrjvrjv, Srapcrog aidol crvyKparov. 
He was also held in high respect by Theodosius : see Theodoret. 
Hist. Ecc. y v. 7- 



240 SECOND (ECUMENIC COUNCIL [SECT. III. 

assembly, and it is only to be lamented that he could 

not animate it with his own spirit. Besides him. Sec- 
tarius is also named (in the Acts of the council of 
Chalcedon) as presiding at the synod of Constantinople, 
which can only mean, that he 'exercised that office as 
the newly-elected bishop of Constantinople, after the 
voluntary retirement of Gregory. 1 

Meletius appears to have arrived at Constantinople 
earlier than the other bishops. 2 After as many eccle- 
siastics had assembled as seemed necessary for the open- 
ing of the council, they 3 proceeded (after a suitable 
address of greeting to the emperor) to the consideration 
and settlement of the questions relative to the Church 
of Constantinople, although the bishops of Egypt and 
Macedonia had not yet appeared. 4 The recent election 
of Maximus to the bishopric of Constantinople was 



1 Meletius is especially described by Gregory as ttooecooc. 
After the death of Meletius. it is highly probable that Gregory 
himself, for a short time, undertook the presidentship, and. on 
his resignation. Nectarius. his successor. Sozomenus ivii. 7^ 
certainly seems to speak of Timotheus of Alexandria, Meletius, and 
Cvrill of Jerusalem, as presidents at this synod. But his expres- 
sions are too undecided to enable us to draw a positive conclusion 
from them. 

2 Socrat., v. S: MfXsrioc ck at, 'Avtloxziclq tt&Xcii Traprjv, ore. 
Cid 7j)v rpTjyopiov Karaararriv uETEardXi]. 

3 The beginning of the synod, according to Socrates, fell in 
the month of May : tJvvrjXSov Iv v-arsta (in the consulship) 
Evx a 9 lov Ka * 'EwaypioWj rcij fia'iqt firjvi. 

4 Socrates, in the place above quoted, says plainly, that Meletius 
was there earlier than the rest for the purpose of instituting 
Gregory in the bishopric of Constantinople. Theocloret {v. J) 
represents him as making his first appearance before Theociosius 
with the other bishops. This agrees with the hypothesis that 
Meletius, with a part of the bishops who were invited to the 
svnod, was earlier in Constantinople, whilst the Egyptian and 
Macedonian bishops (whom Gregory also represents as arriving 
later) were not yet present. Comp. Gregor. Carm. de Vita sua, 
line 1798, p. 28. That among the names of bishops subscribed 



CHAP. IX.] AT CONSTANTINOPLE. 241 

examined into, and, after due inquiry, set aside by the 
bishops. There occurs a special law on this subject, in 
the orders of the synod, to this effect: 1 'In regard to 
Maximus the cynic, and the disturbance which took 
place on his account at Constantinople, neither with 
respect to the past nor to the present time is the said 
Maximus to be looked upon as a bishop ; and the same 
holds good of all persons who may have been ordained 
by him to any spiritual office, whatsoever that office may 
be. Everything, generally, which has been undertaken 
with him and from him is here declared to be invalid.' 

This canon was directed, as we see, not only against 
Maximus, but also against the Egyptian bishops who 
had consecrated him at Constantinople, and against the 
subordinate ecclesiastics whom he probably afterwards 
ordained in Egypt. It is highly probable that a par- 
tisan, like Maximus, had still his adherents among the 
Egyptian clergy, and that the Fathers, assembled at 
Constantinople, cherished a reasonable distrust towards 
their Egyptian brethren. This confirms the conclusion, 
that the assembled prelates purposely settled this 
business before the Egyptian bishops arrived, or else 
that their summons to the synod was so arranged, that 
they could not come in time for the commencement of 
its proceedings. The assembled bishops had also, with- 
out doubt, passed before the arrival of the Egyptians a 
decree, which referred to the meddling of the Alex- 
andrian bishop and his clergy in the concerns of the see 
of Constantinople, and was also intended to forbid any- 



to the decrees of the council no Macedonian occurs, need occasion 
us no difficulty, since Gregory's account of the synod is much 
more to be depended upon than these signatures. 
1 See Canon iv. in Mansi, torn iii. p, 559. 



242 GREGORY IS EEGULAELY [SECT. III. 

thing of the like kind for the future ; for they deter- 
mined/ — 'that all bishops should remain in their own 
dioceses, and not intrude upon another's province; and 
that they should not, uncalled, mix themselves up with 
ordinations in which they have no concern.' 

When now the concerns of the Church in Con- 
stantinople were supposed to be securely arranged, it 
became necessary to proceed to the actual and legal 
election of a bishop for the chief city. And whom else 
could that election fix upon than Gregory? He, the 
courageous defender of the Nicene faith, beloved by 
the emperor, adored by the people, respected and feared 
by most of the clergy, was now actually elected by the 
synod as bishop 2 of the Eastern capital. This, indeed, 
was the only admissible mode of election, because he 
was not yet released from his bishopric of ISTazianzum 
or Sasima. 3 Gregory declares that even now the 
acceptance of this dignity was unpleasant to him, but 



1 Canon ii., see Mansi, p. 559. That this decree had a polemic 
reference to the Bishop of Alexandria is clear from hence, that he 
is the only prelate expressly named, and to whom it is directly 
prescribed ' that he should interfere in the regulation of church 
matters only in Egypt.' 

2 Carm. de Vita sua, line 1525, p. 24 : 

Ovtol [i Evidpvovcn toIq (Js/xvoTg Spovolg 
Boa>vra icai orkvovra. 

3 Certainly the 15th canon of the Nicene Council was opposed 
to the legality of Gregory's elevation to the bishopric of Con- 
stantinople, which forbade bishops to leave their posts and enter 
upon another bishopric. Nor was it omitted to give weight to 
this fact against him. To this, Meletius (who was favourable to 
Gregory, and consecrated him as Bishop of Constantinople) replied 
— that the law was made only to prevent ambitious views ; but 
as these could not exist in this instance, it was not applicable to 
the case in question. (Theodoret, v. 8 : tovtov (Tpriyopiov) 
idwv 6 SrtioQ MeXkriog, icai rwv rbv Kavova yeypcKporivv tov 
GKonbv kirHTTapsvoG — rag yap Trig ^i\ap\iaQ dcpop^ag 7rfpt/co7r- 



CHAP. IX.] CHOSEN BISHOP. 243 

that this unpleasantness was sweetened to him by the 
hope of being able, as legitimate bishop of Constan- 
tinople, to contribute much to the reconciliation of 
those disputes, which, originating with the Meletian 
schism in Antioch, separated and distracted the Eastern 
and Western Churches. 1 The consecration of Gregory 
was conducted with much solemnity by all the bishops 
then present, with Meletius at their head, and honoured 
with appropriate discourses. 

This commencement was probably the calmest and 
brightest period of the synod ; the old contention about 
the bishopric of Antioch was soon renewed, and, indeed, 
in a manner that was extremely unworthy of an assembly 
of ecclesiastics. The venerable old man Meletius died, 
and in him disappeared the angel of peace. 2 After his 



TOVTEQ, £KU)\v(?aV TTJV fJL6Ta&8(JlV sfie[3aiw(Je TlfJ StlOTClTtt) 

Tprjyop'K^ ttjv rrjg KuvvTcivTivovTroXsioQ 7rpoedptav.) Such a 
subjective exposition of the law, according to its spirit and object, 
might undoubtedly lead to most arbitrary judgment ; only the 
declaration of a general synod could legally make any alteration 
on this point. It might with more justice have been argued in 
favour of Gregory, that at Nazianzum he had only been his 
father's coadjutor, and that as to the bishopric of Sasima, he 
had been forced into it against his will, and, indeed, had never 
exercised any episcopal offices there. 

1 Carm. de Vit. sua, line 1529 et seq. p. 24. He remarks, 
however, that there may have been ^aralag Kapdlag (pavrdcrfxara. 

2 Greg. Carm. de Vit. sua, line 1573, p. 25. How widely 
different from the peace-loving Meletius was the conduct of the 
other bishops, appears, e.g., from the following sketch — Carm. 
de Vit. sua, line 1550, p. 25 : 

Opovtov £7r' aKpiov e^epevysrai \6yog, 
Ot Tract KrjpvacrovTSQ elprjvrjv ati, 
Qwvalg TrXareiaig sv Likaaig g/cfcX^c/atc, 
Toaovrov ejj,ixavi](jav aWrjXoig iriKpwg, 
"Qcr' eicf3oo)V7eg, avWkyovrsg avfAjiaxovg, 
KarrjyopovvTsg Kal KarrjyopovLisvoi, 
Hrjdojvrsg, UdrjiiovvTeg iv 7n]Cr)Liaoi, 
AiapTrd^ovreg ovg rt>%oi rig irpG(pzd<jag. 
R 2 



244 gkegory's proposals are [sect. hi. 

funeral had been celebrated with great splendour, 1 a 
contest arose about what he had left behind him, — viz. 
the bishopric of Antioch, which his death had vacated. 
This might have been the moment for uniting the so 
long separated parties in Antioch, had the oversight of 
the whole Antiochian community been transferred to 
the still surviving Paulinus. We are even told by- 
ancient writers, that there existed an agreement between 
the clergy and the laity of Antioch, by virtue of which, 
after the decease of Meletius or of Paulinus, he who 
survived the other should be recognised as the sole 
bishop; nay, that this agreement had even been sworn 
to by a number of the clergy on both sides. 2 Without 
doubt, such an arrangement would gradually, and in 
the safest manner, have produced peace. Gregory also 
looked upon the general acknowledgment of Paulinus 
as the most judicious measure for the attainment of 
union, and justified this view with thorough earnestness 
and warmth before the assembly. What he said on 
that occasion was essentially as follows : 3 — c We ought 
now to take a higher view of the question, and not 



1 The funeral obsequies of Meletius were honoured with many 
eulogistic orations (Theodoret, v. 8), among which Socrates {Hist. 
Eccles., v. 9) especially distinguishes that of Gregory of Nyssa. 
After this solemnity had been celebrated in Constantinople with 
especial honour, his body was carried to Antioch, and buried 
there. — (Greg. Carm. de Vita sua, line 1579 et seq. p. 25). 
Meletius, especially towards the end of his life, enjoyed uncommon 
respect; and if at the beginning of his career his convictions 
were wavering, and his orthodoxy somewhat suspicious, yet his 
character unfolded itself so beautifully amongst various visitations 
and sufferings — he showed himself so amiable, mild, and pious, 
that he acquired such a degree of general affection as scarcely any 
other ecclesiastic of that stormy period did. 

2 Socrat., v, 5 ; Sozom., vii. 3 ; and, with some variation, 
Theodoret., vii. 2 et seq. 

3 Carm. de Vic. sua, lines 1590—1680, pp. 25, 26, 27. 



CHAP. IX.] XOT LISTENED TO. 245 

allow ourselves to be mixed up with the party feelings 
of a particular city. Were those individuals even 
angels, yet they deserved not that, for their sakes 
Christendom, redeemed so dearly, and called to peace, 
should be involved in a general contest. But since the 
dispute is already kindled, it is now that it can again 
be best suppressed. Let him who is now in possession 
of the episcopal seat still retain it. Meanwhile, he also 
is growing old, and the common lot of mortals must 
befal him ! Then a new bishop can be elected with the 
general consent of the laity and the clergy, and with 
the advice of the most judicious bishops. This is the 
only way to peace, which, after weighing well how 
destructive this contentious spirit is to the Church, we 
ought to adopt from a holy sense of duty. But that 
you may be convinced that no regard to self-interest, 
no desire to please man, has moved me to give this 
council, / now request permission to resign my bishop- 
ric, and to lead, if a more inglorious, yet a more 
peaceful life f 

In this clear and manly language spoke Gregory. 
But the spirit of party was too strong for the voice of 
reason to be heard. The assembled bishops were almost 
all supporters of Meletius (Paulinus had not even been 
invited to the synod), and might feel assured that the 
implacable jealousy of the Meletian party at Antioch 
would never recognise Paulinus as bishop. 1 Supported, 
therefore, by that party-spirit at Antioch, the same 
spirit made its voice heard even here, in the assembly 
of bishops. Scarcely had Gregory finished his address, 



1 Socrat., v. 9: oi MfXsr/^ -kqogk.i'i\xu>qi v-nb^.UavXivov tfvai 
o))k yzeXov. It was a stubborn party-spirit which thus attached 
itself to persons. 



246 GREGORY RESIGNS, AND [-SECT. III. 

when, particularly, the younger ecclesiastics (whom he 
certainly had not flattered) rose up in opposition to 
the views proposed by him. screaming tumultuously 
(to use Gregory's own expression), like jackdaws, and 
falling upon him like a swarm of wasps. 1 These 
brawlers succeeded in carrying with them even the 
temperate and the old. and thus the calm words of 
wisdom were perfectly inoperative. The actual result 
(probably at the instigation of the Syrian prelates, who 
did not wish to be subject to Paulinus) was. that a 
successor was given to Meletius, and a rival bishop 
to Paulimis. in the person of Flexianus the presbyter. 
(Socrat., v. 9; Sozom.. vii. 11.) With this choice the 
Meletian community of Antioch completely coincided. 



CHAPTER X. 

GREGORY RESIGNS. ABB LEAVES HIS CONGREGATION. 

Meanwhile the sittings of the synod continued in so 
stormy a manner as could not be pleasing to an earnest- 
minded man. Gregory was glad to be prevented by 
illness for several days from attending the meetings. 2 



1 Carm. de Tit. sua, line 1680. Compare Carm. x. line 92, 
p. SI. where, among other things, he compares even the bishops 
with cranes and geese. Certainly, only those who are admirei 
the unlimited authority of councils should read Gregory's descrip- 
tion of this (Ecumenic synod : and especially his delineation of 
most of its members. See Carm. adv. Epise., line 154. p. IS et 
seq.. where, among other things, he represents it as something 
discreditable to sit in the midst of such frac^^-in-faith : 



Kat yap i]r ai(j\oc usya 



Tovrojv r/2'' elrat rCor Ka~]\ujv jtc'ot€«C- 
de Vit. sua, line 1745, p. 28. 



CHAP. X.] LEAVES HIS CONGREGATION. 217 

and at last, when he saw that his voice could not make 
its way there, he firmly determined to withdraw him- 
"self altogether. With this view he quitted his recent 
episcopal residence, and no longer assisted at the synod. 1 
This step made a great impression upon the people, who 
earnestly besought Gregory to devote the rest of his 
life entirely to them and to God, whose Gospel he had 
hitherto preached with such power among them. 2 

Gregory was not yet able to come to a positive deter- 
mination of resigning his bishopric, when the proceed- 
ings of the synod, through the arrival of the hitherto 
absent bishops of Egypt and Macedonia, took a turn 
which brought this determination to maturity. 3 These 
bishops, who naturally felt themselves neglected in the 
tardiness of their summons, were already, even on 
that ground, inclined to set themselves against that 
which the synod had already determined upon. They 
showed themselves particularly dissatisfied with the 
election of Gregory; and this, as he himself says, not 
so much out of hatred towards him, or preference for 
another, whom they would rather have placed on the 
episcopal seat, but rather from a refractory spirit against 



1 Carm. de Yit. sua, line 1778, p. 28. 

2 Carm. de Yit. sua, line 1781 et seq. p. 28. 

3 That the Egyptian and Macedonian bishops did arrive late, 
is clear from the whole account of the matter by Gregory. After 
relating all that has been given above, he thus proceeds (Carm. 
de Yit. sua, line 1798, p. 28) to report the arrival of these bishops, 
as something that had newly occurred : 

'HXS-ov yap, r)\5ov IZcnrivriQ K£ic\7]fJLsi'oi 
AiyvTTTioi re Kai MctKtdovsg spydrai 
Tuji' tov Ssov vofiwv re Kai fivcrri]piu)V, 
<f?v(JU)v7eQ i)jiTv trrTTtpiov Tt Kal rpaxv* 
ToTc o avrtwqet ^jfiog ijXiotypovwv. 



24:8 GREGORY RESIGNS. AND [SECT. III. 

those who had elected Gregory. 1 So, at least, they 
secretly represented the matter to him. 

According to all probability, this refers more par- 
ticularly to the fact, that Gregory had been elected 
under the influence of Meletius, and consecrated by 
him. But, publicly, they made use of another reason 
for rejecting Gregory; for instance, they applied to 
this case the loth canon of the Xicene council: 'that, 
to guard against irregularities, no bishop, presbyter, or 
deacon, should pass from one city to another. But 
should any one presume to act on this plan, the 
arrangement should go for nothing, and the ecclesiastic 
should be sent back to the church in which he had been 
first ordained.' According to this, they now maintained 
that Gregory could legitimately be only bishop of Sasima, 
but by no means bishop of Constantinople. Gregory 
and his defenders, on the contrary, appealed to the fact 
that he had, by the declaration of a general synod, been 
released altogether from this already antiquated law; 2 
an argument which, however, was not raised above all 
doubts. 

Gregory now considered himself so seriously ill, that, 
setting aside all other considerations, he formed a deter- 



1 Carm. de Vti. sua, line 1812, p. 29 : 

Ow fikv rrpbc Ex^oai' r/]i' E/irjV, ovce zoovov 
^—Evcoi'Tse a\\oic< ovca/iajc, oaov rrovcp 

Twj,' EvSpOVHTTWl' TUJP i^L/WJ', LUC "jfOVV hjli 

SftGwc t-nzov Xa^oloLC C?]\tof.iacn. 

2 Gregory designates this Xicene canon rs an antiquated lav:. 
Carm. de tit. sua. line 1810, p. 29 : 

~S6novc <7Tp8<pov-eg tovq ~d\cu TEZinjKorag, 
'Qv ~\CiG~ov ij/JiEv Kat craoujc iXev^epot. 
But we cannot quite see what sufficient ground he had for saying 
so. The 15th canon had been annulled by no succeeding council ; 



CHAP. X.] LEAVES HIS CONGREGATION". 249 

mined resolution to resign his office. He presented 
himself before the assembled bishops, and addressed them 
as follows: 1 — '"Whatever this assembly may afterwards 
determine concerning rae, I would gladly raise your 
thoughts beforehand to a subject of far higher impor- 
tance. I pray you, then, be at harmony with each other, 
and united in love! Shall we always be derided as 
irreconcilable, and be animated only by one thing, — viz. 
contention? Offer the hand of brotherly affection. 
But I will be another Jonas. I will sacrifice myself for 
the safety of our ship (the Church), although I am 
guiltless as to the storm that has been raised. Let the 
lot fall upon me, and throw me into the sea; a hospitable 
whale will receive me in the deep waters. Let this 
be the beginning of your reconciliation. Unwillingly 
I ascended the episcopal throne, and willingly I again 
descend from it. My poor weak body also counsels me 
to this. Only one debt have I still to pay — the debt of 
death ; and that is God's concern. But my beloved 
Trinity in Unity ! only on thy account am I sorrowful. 
Wilt thou indeed have an honest man as my successor, 
who may defend thee with courage and a zealous 
devotedness ? But fare ye well ! and think, I pray 
you, of my labours and troubles.' Thus spoke Gregory. 



nay, rather, towards the end of the fourth century, it was quite 
as beneficial and necessary as it had been at the beginning of the 
same. And Gregory himself, so great an admirer in general of 
the decrees of Xicsea. was least justified in speaking of one of 
them as antiquated. Only by the decree of a general synod 
could he be released therefrom, and this he actually had been 
when the synod of Constantinople appointed him bishop of that 
capital. The correctness, however, of that decision was called in 
question by the Egyptian and Macedonian bishops, because they 
had not been present at the passing of the same. 
1 Carm. de Yit. sua, line 1828, p. 29, 



250 GREGORY RESIGNS, ABB [SECT. III. 

The bishop?, taken by surprise, hesitated, in doubt how 
they should declare themselves. Gregory left the 
assembly with mingled sensations, happy at the thought 
that he should now enjoy repose^ but sad when he 
thought of his flock, and their feelings on becoming 
acquainted with what had happened. 1 Xo sooner, how- 
ever, had Gregory left the assembly, than the bishops 
showed their satisfaction at his resignation : 2 a thing at 
which we might be inclined to wonder, if we did not 
take into consideration the ordinary course of human 
proceedings. The greater part of the clergy were 
heartily glad to be quit of a man whom they envied, 
who was superior to them in genius and eloquence, who 
often severely censured their violent conduct, and did 
not always deliver his wiser counsel with perfect mild- 
ness. And ; besides this, the Macedonian and Egyptian 
prelates already formed a decided opposition, which was 
maintained by them the more firmly, because it sprung 
(especially in the case of the Egyptians) from the long- 
standing party spirit of their entire Church. 

Gregory went straightway to the emperor, and. in the 
presence of many persons, requested his dismissal in a 
straightforward, dignified manner : 3 { I desire not gold 
of thee, magnanimous prince, nor valuable ornaments 



1 Carm. de Tit. s.. line 1S56 et seq. p. 29. 

2 Carm. de Tit. s., line 1869, and especially Carm. adv. Episc, 
line 14:5. p. 18 : 

Upovirtprpav "vBev avfjAvcoe o\ (pCKraroi 
"0(7—60 riv oycov EJC VSUJC papOVjliVl]C 
^Pbf/avTSQ" i)v yap (poproc svopovujv KaKolc. 

Even the false report was circulated, that the bishops had de- 
posed Gregory against his wishes. Carm. de Tit. s.. line 1929. and 
Carmen ii. line 11. p. 75. in Tollhrs. 

3 Carm. de Vit. s., lines 1871—1905, pp. 29, BO. 



CHAP. X.] LEAVES HIS CONGREGATION. 251 

for my church, nor honourable app ointments for nry 
relations. I believe that I have deserved of thee a far 
higher act of grace. Permit me, then, to withdraw my- 
self out of the reach of envy.' 1 With such words 
Gregory approached the emperor, at the same time ad- 
juring him to make every effort to restore peace among 
the excited bishops. Theodosius, though he viewed with 
the deepest regret his departure from Constantinople, 
solemnly promised the venerable bishop the strictest 
attention to his request. 

Gregory now received so many proofs of the sym- 
pathy of his congregation, that he could not well avoid 
the public expression of a solemn farewell ; it was also 
obligatory upon him openly to state his exact position, 
and to justify his proceedings. This he did in his 
famous Valedictory Oration? from which we the more 
willingly extract some striking passages, as it belongs 
to the most distinguished oratorical productions of 
Gregory. In the first place, Gregory addresses the as- 
sembled bishops in a conciliatory manner, and engages 
to give them an account of his previous official conduct. 
He describes the melancholy state of the orthodox com- 
munity in Constantinople immediately before his arrival, 
under the government of Yalens f how it scarcely pre- 
sented the appearance of a community, being small, with- 
out a pastor, scattered, persecuted, unprotected by law, 
and robbed of all property. He then points to its im- 



1 Carm, de Yit. s., line 1889, p. 30 : 

"Ey fxoi coSrj-o, fiLKpov el£ai rq) (pSovty. 
Qoovovc 7ro$iof.itv dWd TropowSrev (jsj3elv. 

2 Orat. xlii. pp. 748—768. The title of the oration is : Suv 
aicrtipioc eig rrjv Ttav pv {i.e. 150) sttktkottw^ Traoovaiav. 

3 Orat. xlii. 2, p. 749. 



2-52 GREGORY RESIGNS, AJSJD [SECT. III. 

proved condition at the time of his address : ' Lift up 
thine eves (he says) and look around. 1 thou who wonldst 
test my teaching here. Observe this glorious wi 
that has already been woven; see the assembly of pres- 
byters, venerable for their age and intelligence, the 
modest deacons, the excellent readers, the inquiring, 
docile people, the men and women, alike respected for 
their virtue. This goodly wreath (I say it not from the 
Lord, but still I say it), this wreath have I in a great 
measure helped to construct* this crown is, at least in 
part, the result of my preaching." Gregory was un- 
doubtedly too modest to ascri to his own exer- 
tions the great alteration which, under favourable exter- 
nal circumstances, had been brought about in so short a 
time. He saw therein a divine providence. 3 But yet. 
in the position in which he had been placed, he h 1 
a perfect right to claim value for his personal co-opera- 
tion, that had been so unthankfully received, and espe- 
cially to exhibit forcibly the grave importance of the 
effort to maintain and establish the pure doctrine at that 
particular time in Constantinople. ■' For if this be not 
a great thing (he says, in reference thereto). 3 to hi 
fortified and established in sound doctrine the city, 
which is the eye of the world, the mistress of sea and 
land, the connecting link between East and West, to 
which everything flows in from all quarters. 4 and from 



1 Orat. xlii. 11. p. 755 et seq. C : :.'. :»a: - . . ;. 1_ ;. 
line 115 et seq. p. 14. 

2 Carrn. ii. line 61, p. SO. in Tolling : 

'AAA* bvK inov yi } w\rjvoa } £\ : :?;7£ cecc. 

3 Orat. xlii. 10. p. 755. 

4 Certainly it might also be said of this new Rome . what Tacitus 
A yd. xf. 44 says of the old: qn :_.::;. undiqne ati ant 

pudenda confluunt celebranturqne. 



CHAP. X.] LEAVES HIS CONGREGATION. 253 

which everything issues, as from a common emporium 
of the faith — and all this at a time when it was disturbed 
on all sides by most opposite opinions — if this be not a 
great thing, scarcely could anything else appear great 
and worth an effort. But granting this to belong to 
praiseworthy things, then may I feel a little pride 
therein — then have I contributed in part to the produc- 
tion of that which you now see around you.' Gregory 
might with a good conscience appeal to his ministerial 
labours. It had been his steady aim to act therein in 
reference to the good cause, and to the advantage of 
the community entrusted to his care, not for the attain- 
ment of selfish objects of gratification or advancement. 
1 Have I ever l (he could safely presume to say) — have I 
ever taken advantage of this people through love of 
gain 1 Have I been anxious to promote my own in- 
terest, as most people do ? Have I ever grieved the 
Church ? Others prohahly I may have grieved (against 
whom, because they fancied we might have surrendered 
our good cause, my preaching was directed), but not 
you, as far as I am conscious to myself. I have kept 
my priestly- vows pure and without falsehood. If I 
have done homage to power, or striven for dominion, or 
obtruded myself into the palaces of princes, then will no 
honour attend my name ; or if I have gained any, I 
shall instantly lose it.' 

Gregory then, after giving a full statement of the 
doctrine of the Trinity (by the force of which he was 
convinced he had wrought all this, the Holy Spirit 
working with him), presents to the assembled bishops 
his flourishing congregation, as at the same time his 



Orat. xlii. 19, p. 761. 



254: GREGORY RESIGNS, AND [SECT. III. 

best defence and fairest gift, and asks of them in return 
his discharge from his post. {Orat. xlii. 20. p. 761). 
' Grant me now also a reward for my past exertions. 
And what is it I ask? Not that which suspicious minds 
might suppose ; but such as I can with security de- 
mand. Give me rest from my protracted labours. Ee- 
spect this hoary head \ respect the claims of hospitality. 
Choose in my place some other man, like me, subject to 
persecution; a man of clean hands, and judicious in his 
discourses, who is qualified to lire in all things agree- 
ably to your wishes, and able to bear up under eccle- 
siastical cares ; for this is a necessary qualification in 
our days. Ye see how my body is wasted by age and 
sickness and over-exertion; what farther use could ye 
find in a sickly, debilitated old man? in one who, so to 
say, dieth daily, not only from bodily weakness, but 
from care and sorrows? 

Gregory next laments bitterly the contentious dispo- 
sition that prevailed among the bishops, and the general 
party-spirit arising therefrom : ' How,' he asks, ' could I 
support this holy war ? for we may speak of a holy war 
as we do of a barbarous war. How should I endure 
those persons who, in the very discharge of their office, 
oppose one another, make their ministerial duties an 
occasion of dispute, and assemble together, not an 
united people, but a people split and divided by their 
separations, and, like their teachers, hostile to each 
other? nay, not only their own people are thus affected, 
but parties are formed through the whole world, in 
agreement with the views of those restless individuals ; 
so that now the East and the West are divided into two 
hostile parties, and seem no less separated by their 
opinions than they are by their natural boundaries. 



CHAP. X.] LEAVES HIS COXGEEGATIOX. 255 

How long (the orator proceeds, in allusion to the Mele- 
tian schism) — how long shall we speak of my teacher and 
thy teacher, of the old school and the new, of the more 
eloquent or the more spiritual, of the more noble or the 
less noble, of him who has the larger or the smaller 
congregation? I should disgrace ray old age, if I, who 
have my salvation through Christ, should suffer my- 
self to be called after another (i. e., adopt any party 
name). 1 

In continuing the discourse, Gregory defends himself 
against some unjust reproaches which were frequently 
made against him, particularly against the absurd charge 
of not having lived in the same expensive style as other 
wordly-minded prelates of that time indulged in. He 
considers himself rather entitled to censure the inhabit- 
ants of Constantinople for looking too much to exter- 
nals in their clergy : ( For (he says) they require not 
priests but orators, 2 uot curators of souls > but possessors 
of riches ; not pure ministers of the altar, but powerful 
combatants.' 

The orator then goes on to the conclusion, in which 
he once more brings together all his sentiments, and 
which, on that account, may here be introduced entire. 3 
1 Now farewell, my beloved church, Anastasia, thou who 
bearest so blessed a name! Thou raisedst up again our 



1 Carm. xi. line 155 : 

XpiOTO£ £f fJLCLTrjV 7]\oi(Jl TTSTrapTCtl. 

Ov yap cltto XpicrroTo fca\ov[ia&a,£K iiepoTruv Ss. 
The word fispoxb, in the Lexicons, is rendered ' avis qusedam,' a 
voice-dividing bird — probably a magpie ; bnt here, surely, it is 
enough to apply it (with Homer) to men, as opposed to Christ. — 
Translator. 

2 Orat. xlii. 24, p. 765. 

3 Orat. xlii. 26, pp. 766—768. 



256 GEEGOEY RESIGNS, AND [8BCT. III. 

true faith ; which at that time was still despised ; thou 
field of our common victory, thou new Shiloh, where 
we first set up again the Ark of the Covenant, after it 
had been carried about during forty years' wandering in 
the wilderness ! And thou, too. larger and more cele- 
brated temple, our new possession, who hast now first 
received thy true greatness from the true preaching of 
the everlasting word of God ! And all ye houses of 
God, which come near to it in beauty, and, distributed 
in different quarters of the city, connect the neighbourly 
relation by a holy chain — ye folds, which not we in our 
weakness, but God by his grace working with us, hath 
filled with sheep that had else been lost ! Farewell, ye 
apostles, who deign to inhabit this temple j 1 ye types 
of my struggle ! — Farewell thou, my episcopal throne, 
envied but dangerous seat! and thou assemblage of 
higher priests, and ye other priests, venerable by your 
age and humble bearing ! and whosoever else serveth at 
the holy table of God, and standeth near to the ever- 
near God ! Farewell, ye choruses of the Nazareans, ye 
harmonies of psalms and hymns, ye nightly prayers, ye 
chaste virgins, ye modest wives and widows, ye assem- 
bled orphans, ye poor, whose eyes looked up to God and 
me ! Farewell, ye hospitable and Christ-loving houses, 
which have taken a kind interest in my weakness! 
Farewell, ye friendly listeners to my discourses, ye who 
have attended on them in crowds, and have even taken 
them down in writing, openly or secretly! Thou, too, 



1 It was believed that the church of the Apostles contained 
the remains of St. Andrew. St. Luke, and Timothy. See Idacii, 
Citron, ad Consul. Const, viii. et Julian, i.: and the same writer, 
ad Consul. Const, ix. et Jul. ii. See also more particulars in Du 
Cange, Constantino}). Christ., iv. 5, p. 105. 



CHAP. X.] LEAVES HIS COXGREGATION. 257 

mr pulpit, so often closely pressed upon by my eager 
audience,, farewell ! Farewell ye princes, and ye palaces, 
and all ye that form the establishment and household 
of the emperor. Whether ye are loyal to the emperor 
or not, I do not know ; but to God ye are in a great 
measure untrue. Clap your hands, raise the shout of 
approbation, extol your preacher to the skies!* The 
tongue that has been so troublesome to you will speak 
to you no more; but it is not entirely speechless; it 
will still fight the good fight through the hand and the 
pen ; it is only for the present that it will be silent. 

' Farewell, thou vast, Christ-loving city ! for I will 
bear witness to this truth, even though thy zeal is not 
always combined with knowledge ; approaching separa- 
tion makes me judge mildly of thee. Keep close to the 
truth; change at length for the better; honour God 
more than you have hitherto done; such a change 
brings no shame with it, but perseverance in evil will 
bring destruction. Farewell, Eastern and Western lands, 
those for which and those by which I am persecuted 
and opposed! He is my witness, who will establish 
peace among you, if only some few persons would imi- 
tate my act of resignation ; for surely they who descend 
from the episcopal chair, do not thereby lose their con- 
nexion with God, but rather receive a heavenly seat, 
far higher and safer than it. But above all I say : Fare- 



* I have, with reluctance, translated this (looking to the Greek 
as well as the German) literally, on the authority of Neander, 
who, in his Church History (vol. iii. p. 427), so applies the pas- 
sage, and builds on it a charge agaicst Gregory of vanity, and a 
compliance with the bad practice of seeking applause, Kporog, 
from his congregation. From the context, both before and after, 
I am rather inclined to take it ironically, in allusion to some 
favourite orator. — Translator. 



258 GREGORY RESIGNS, AND [SECT. III. 

well, ye angels, protectors of this church, my protectors 
both during my presence here and in my discharge from 
office! for in God's hand lie all our destinies. And 
farewell, Holy Trinity, my sole thought, my only 
jewel! Mayest thou be preserved to these, my people, 
and mayest thou preserve them ! For they are still my 
people, even when they are taken charge of by another. 
And that I may hear that ye are ever exalted and 
distinguished for sound doctrine and holy living! My 
children, cherish the truth which I have committed to 
you, and remember my persecutions for its sake. The 
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all! 
Amen.' 

Gregory's resignation is one of the most important 
events in his life, and, in fact, closes his public career. 
This renunciation of the highest station in the Church, 
so perfectly suited to him, has not unfrequently been 
looked upon as one of the noblest acts and as the 
brightest point in his life ; for instance, by Sozomenus 
(Eccles. Hist., vii. 7). Without denying the greatness 
of mind which really belonged to that voluntary deter- 
mination, we yet think we ought not to assent to that 
unconditional praise ; rather must we maintain that the 
motives of the proceeding, as far as we can discern them 
by means of safe historical traces, were of a mixed na- 
ture. Undoubtedly Gregory had been unjustly and 
vexatiously treated. He might with reason require an 
acknowledgment of his services in regard to the churches 
of the capital, and expect a due regard for his person ; 
and both of these things he experienced at the com- 
mencement of the synod. But, in a short time, exter- 
nal circumstances and a low tone of sentiment turned 
from him the favourable bias of the excited ecclesiastics, 



CHAP. X.] LEAVES HIS COXGKEGATION. 2-59 

and changed it into a disrespectful resistance. Gregory 
upon that lost patience, and would have nothing more 
to do with the great body of them. JSTow was he not 
(if we may presume to ask the question) too much pro- 
voked, too deeply wounded, by this mere human occur- 
rence? Might he not, with a higher discretion, cou- 
rageously have endured all those personal attacks, and 
calmly maintained the post which belonged to him, in 
order to effect the more good after the storm was over ? l 
We will not, however, be so unjust as to overlook the 
better motives which influenced him. Gregory really 
believed, that through his retiring the assembly would 
be more calm and peaceable (as it really then became), 
and so far his conduct was an act of self-denying, pub- 
lic-spirited sacrifice. In addition to this, he was old 
and sickly, and had well-established claims upon a quieter 
and more retired life, while a deep and inextinguishable 
longing ever attracted him to a life of solitary devoted- 



1 How excellently does the heroic, indefatigable champion of 
the faith, our German Lather, express himself in his exposition 
of the Sermon on the Mount ! ' Whoever so preaches or rules, 
as to allow himself to become weary and impatient, and, as it 
were, to be driven into a corner, he will be slow in benefiting his 
people. It is not meant that you should sneak into a corner or 
into the wilderness, but rather to rush out if you were there, and 
devote yourself, hands and feet, nay, your whole body, and risk 
thereon all that you have, and all that you can do. We would 
have such a man as can be hard against the hard, so that he will 
not suffer himself to be frightened away nor clamoured down, 
nor allow any ingratitude or worldly malice to overcome him, 
but still press forward and persevere, as much as he can, by the 
exertion of all his energies. If he cannot make the world as reli- 
gious as he could wish, let him do what he can.' — Luther's Works, 
vol. vii. p. 56i ; the Walch. edit. Certainly we ought not here 
to overlook this difference — that Luther was thoroughly of & prac- 
tical spirit, whilst Gregory's turn of mind was, by nature, predo- 
minantly contemplative. 

s -2 



260 GREGORY RESIGNS, AND [SECT. IIP 

ness to God. 1 Gregory's resignation, therefore, pro- 
ceeded quite naturally and necessarily from his intel- 
lectual constitution and his real character being placed 
in collision with those peculiar circumstances; and his 
better self (as well as the less worthy but strong sense 
of honour) appears to have contributed to this determi- 
nation. Certainly, if we compare this act with the 
conduct of a great many other bishops, who thought no 
step too low in order to obtain an influential position, 
or to maintain themselves therein, it appears an heroic 
sacrifice, almost unique of its kind. For it was, un- 
doubtedly, no small matter to relinquish a position won 
by so many labours, and earnestly desired, exactly at the 
moment when the fruits of those labours offered them- 
selves for more peaceful enjoyment. 

We cannot suppose that Gregory remained long in 
Constantinople after the delivery of his farewell oration. 
He had probably taken his departure ere the synod 
chose a successor to him, in the person of Nectarius, 
who had hitherto been a senator, and had been invested 
with the office of praetor. 2 This person is celebrated 



1 Gregory expresses his feelings on the occasion of his resigna- 
tion in, probably, his most beaivtiful poem — Carm, xii. p. 85. 

2 Socrat., v. 8. — rjv ds tic iSsKT&pioc ovojxa, ovyk\i]7ikov \i\v 
ysvovc (of a senatorial family) sttlslktjc ce rbv rponov, Et' o\ov 
^av/Jia^ofjLEvoc, KairoL t?)v Toi) Trpair(opoc xiip'CLuiv apyjqv og 
ap7ra<7$ELQ vtto tov kaov, slg rrjv S7rie>K07rr)v TrposfiXiiS?). It is 
seen, however, in the more exact account by Sozomenus (vii. 8), 
that the election of Nectarhis did not proceed from the people, 
but was chiefly the work of Diodorus of Tarsus (Nectarius him- 
self also was a native of Tarsus) and of the Emperor Theodosius 
himself. The same writer also relates an interesting anecdote of 
Kectarius, from which it appears that his earlier life had not been 
altogether holy and bishop-like, but that he was, however, no 
hypocrite, but a truly noble, open-hearted, intelligent person. 
Sozom., vii. 10. 



CHAP. X.] LEAVES HIS CONGREGATION. 261 

for his gentle and worthy character, but he had not 
qualified himself for a spiritual appointment. He had 
not even been as yet baptized. As a theologian, in the 
proper sense of the term, he was, therefore, by no means 
worthy of his distinguished predecessor; though it is 
not improbable that, by the mildness of his disposition, 
he exercised a more successful influence on the harmony 
of the assembled bishops than the strict Gregory had 
ever exercised. 

It was probably in the month of June, a.d. 381, that 
Gregory left Constantinople, after he had laboured 
there between two and three years * with the authority 
of a bishop, and the superiority of a distinguished 
teacher, but only for a few weeks as actual bishop. It 
was after the voluntary retirement of Gregory, that 
the now quieter assembly of bishops adopted those 
important decisions which make that council an epoch 
in the history of the constitution and doctrines of the 
Church. In relation to the first (the constitution of the 
Church) the celebrated law was passed, which gives to 
the Bishop of Constantinople, as the bishop of new- 
Rome, the second rank ; next, that is, to the Bishop of 
Rome. (See Canon iii.) But in relation to doctrine, 
not only was the Mcene confession confirmed, with 
additional condemnation of the heresies that were 
opposed to it, 2 but it was also completed by several 

1 He says himself (Carm. adv. Episc, line 100) : 

ri cncaibv 

*H eittov, ri £7rpa%a tovt' 'irog rpirov; 
whether the third year was completed there, admits of a doubt. 
At all events, his residence in Constantinople continued more 
than two years, 

8 Canon L, where the Eunomians or Anomceans, the Arians or 
Eudoxians, Semi- Arians or Pneuraatomachians, Sabellians, Mar- 
cellians, Photinians and Apollinarians, are expressly named. 



262 GREGORY RESIGNS. [SECT. III. 

additions. 1 the most important of which related to the 
Holy Ghost ; so that now the doctrine of the Trinity, 
in its fundamental principles, was ecclesiastically settled, 
invested with triumph by public authority of Church 
and State/ 2 and therefore that result was attained for 
which Gregory had fought with the weapons of the 
Word. 3 



1 The Nicene confession of faith, with these additions, is gene- 
rally known under the title of The Kicene-Coustantinopolitan 
Symbol. The other decrees of the council of Constantinople are 
not here of importance to us. 

2 The assembled bishops made their determinations known to 
the emperor in a written document, which bears the date of 
July 9. a.d. 381. The emperor, as might well be expected, (since 
the synod had proceeded quite according to his own views.) con- 
firmed the resolutions, and also made several laws against the 
condemned heretics — Eunomians, Arians, and Aelians. Cod. 
TJieod. lib. xvi., T. V. L. 8. Then follow, lib. i., T. I. L. 3 (of the 
30th of July); lib. xvi., T.V.L. 11, et seq. 23. 

3 TIeiSovg fiia., by the force of persuasion. Carm. adv. Episc, 
line 120; Carm, i. p. 19. 



263 



SECTION THE FOUBTH. 



FROM GREGORY'S DEPARTURE FROM CONSTANTINOPLE TO HIS NATIVE 
PROVINCE, DOWN TO THE TIME OF HIS DEATH. FROM THE TEAR 
OF OUR LORD 381 TO 390, AND THEREFORE FROM HIS FIFTY- 
FIRST TO HIS SIXTIETH YEAR. 

p HRONOLOGICAL REVIEW :— Gregory left Con- 
KJ stantinople and returned to Cappadocia most pro- 
bably in June 381. He lived there for a short period 
in the discharge of public duties, but afterwards, for the 
most part, in undisturbed retirement. In the summer 
of 382 he was invited to a synod at Constantinople, 
which he however declined to attend. Probably in the 
year 383 he caused Eulalius to be chosen bishop of 
Nazianzum, and from that time withdrew himself 
entirely to his private estate. It is not easy to arrange 
chronologically a list of his labours and writings there. 
The death of Gregory took place a.d. 389 or 390. 



CHAPTER L 

GREGORY ENJOYS HIS RETIREMENT AND HIS RELEASE FROM SYNODS ; 
HE IS, HOWEVER, CONSTANTLY ACTIVE IN THE SERVICE OF THE 
CHURCH AT NAZIANZUM. 

Gregory now withdrew from the dazzling arena of an 
absorbing activity to a quieter, though not altogether a 
secluded or inactive life. His soul longed after solitude 
and repose, but his ardent mind could not slumber in 
retirement. 

He went first of all, as it seems, to Nazianzum, or to 



264: GREGORY ENJOYS [SECT. IV. 

his patrimonial estate near Arianzum, to give some 
refreshment to his infirm body and to his mind, that 
had suffered from the stormy contests he had been 
engaged in. A letter which he wrote to his friend 
Philagrius l gives us the best possible idea of the state 
of mind in which he then was ; he therein first excuses 
himself for having been prevented by illness from visit- 
ing him, and then defends himself against the reproach 
(which his friend had brought against him) of having 
relinquished his post at Constantinople somewhat too 
hastily and inconsiderately. 2 ' I am weary (he says) of 
the struggle with envy and with the holy bishops, who 
destroyed all chance of union on public -spirited grounds, 
and sacrificed the cause of the faith to their private 
squabbles. Therefore I have thought it right to turn 
the ship about, and (as is related of the nautili, 3 when 
they mark an approaching storm) withdraw into myself ; 
so that I can now observe from my distant retreat, how 
others are knocked about and jostle with each other. 
Now when you write to me that it was a hazardous 
thing thus to leave the Church, I ask you, i What 
church V If it were my own, I should have agreed with 
her, and entirely justified her proceedings. But if it be 



1 Epist. 65, al. 59, p. 823. 

2 ILapspywg icai paSvuiog^ 

3 Plinii Histor. Natur., ix. 47- Inter prsecipua miracula est, 
qui vocatur Nautilos, ab aliis Pompilos ; supinus in summa 9Bquo- 
rum pervenit, ita se paulatim subrigens, ut emissa omni per 
fistulam aqua, velut exoneratus sentina, facile naviget, Postea 
duo prima braehia retorquens, membranam inter ilia mirae tenui- 
tatis extendit ; qua velificante in auras, cseteris subremigans 
brachiis, media cauda, uti 'gubernaculo_, sese regit. Ita vadit 
alto, Liburnicarum gaudens imagine ; et, si quid pavoris interve- 
niat, hausta se mergit aqua. See some remarks on this in Har- 
doin's edition of Pliny, torn. i. pp. 516, 541. 



CHAP. I.] HIS RETIREMENT. 265 

one which does not properly concern me, and is not * 
adjudged to me, then am I blameless. And if I have 
taken charge of it for a time, am I therefore irrevocably 
bound to it ? If so, many others also would be equally 
bound, who have at any time taken the charge of 
churches that were not theirs. To maintain the contest 
is probably deserving of reward, but yet the act of with- 
drawing from it is not to be considered as a crime.' 

Gregory had returned home with feelings of strong- 
displeasure, and even of acrimony, at the conduct of the 
bishops towards him. He sought to relieve his full 
heart in the outpourings of epistolary correspondence ; 
and we are indebted to this impulse of his sensibility 
for a poem seasoned with biting sarcasm (viz. The Poem 
concerning the Bishops l ), in which he describes in the 
liveliest colours the corrupt state of the clergy of his 
time. The excited state of Gregory's feelings may have 
caused some exaggeration ; but, as a whole, it contains 
such individualized touches of features taken from the 
life, that it bears upon it the complete impression of 
truth, and affords us the melancholy fact, that the eccle- 
siastical offices, and especially the bishoprics, of that 
time were filled in a great measure by persons who were 
not only very ignorant, but also in moral sentiment utterly 
unworthy of their appointment. 2 Another poem, con- 



* Does not all this apply to Xazianzum, rather than Constanti- 
nople \ — Translator. 

1 This poem, tig kavrbv Kcti wept Itzktkottmv, was first published 
in the lnsignibus Itinerarii Italici of Jacobus Tollius ; Trajecti ad 
Bhen. MDCXCVI., and subsequently reprinted by Galland. TTe 
shall hereafter find occasion to quote some portions of it. 

2 Beausobre says : — II faut, ou que cet eveque (Gregoire) ait ete 
le plus medisant de tous les homines, ou que le plupart de ceux de 
son temps fussent des gens vicieux et bien meprisables. Cepen- 
dant ce metoient encore la, que des commencemens des douleurs. 
Bibl. German. j torn, xxxviii. p. 65. 



266 GREGORY ENJOYS [SECT. IV. 

cerning Ms oicn Life, was written by Gregory, in milder 
tone, though not unmixed with satire, which also seems 
to belong to this period, because it is continued exactly 
to his resignation of his office in Constantinople. 

Gregory, however, could console himself in his life of 
retirement by the consciousness, that the good which he 
had done in Constantinople would follow him even in 
his solitude, and that he only left behind him in the 
unquiet capital struggle and suffering. 1 After he had 
gotten over the first sharp pain occasioned by his un- 
grateful treatment at Constantinople, Gregory soon felt 
himself well in body and cheerful in mind. In this 
tone of feeling he writes to his friend Amazonius : 2 e If 
any one of our common friends, (of whom I hope there 
are a good many,) should ask you, Where is Gregory 
now 1 and what is he doing ? tell him only, in entire 
confidence of its truth, that he is enjoying, in perfect 
quiet, a philosophical life, and that he troubles himself 
as little about his enemies as he does about persons of 
whose existence he knows nothing. So little is his 
mind bowed down by recent events.' Indeed he soon 
felt happy in his unenvied quiet, where, far away from 
the din of the world and the disputes of the clergy, he 
could occupy himself in prayer to God ; 3 and he could, 
at last, even thank his enemies for having forced him 
into that solitary asylum. ' I am leading 4 (he writes 
to a friend, Sophronius, an officer of state) — I am leading 
a philosophical life in undisturbed quiet. This have 



1 Compare, on this point, the 57th poem, p. 134, dq kavrov 
fiErci rrfv airb rrjq KuvcrTavrivov 7t6Xs(jjc kiravolov, in which, 
among other things, he says (line 3) : — 

"Eoxo/.i' exwv ocr' spi^a, Kai ocr' Sjuoy?^' airoXsly&ag. 

2 Epist 73, al. 70, p. 829. 3 Eput. 187, p. 887. < 

4 Epist, 59, al. 53, p. 816. 



CHAP. I.] HIS EETIEEMENT. 267 

my enemies procured for me ; I could wish that they 
had even inflicted more of the like kind upon me, that 
I might recognise in them, even more than I do, my 
benefactors ! For so it often happens, that those plants 
which seem to take harm are exactly the first to bloom, 
while those which seem to be in the most flourishing 
condition suffer damage/ 

That Gregory cherished no ill-will against his suc- 
cessor Nectarius, but rather a most friendly feeling, 
appears from several of his epistles. 1 We select, by way 
of proof, only one beautiful passage from a letter of 
introduction 2 which Gregory gave to a certain person 
named Pancratius, addressed to the Bishop of Constan- 
tinople : ' My affairs (he writes) go on quietly, just as 
it pleases them to go. I live now in peace, without 
contest or calls of business, and I value the security of 
undisturbed solitude as the highest reward that could 
be granted to me. Nay, I have even derived an addi- 
tional advantage from this life of quiet, since by God's 
goodness I have completely recovered from my sickness. 
But as for you, as holy David says, ' Good luck have 
thou with thy honour ! ' and may the God, who has 
called you to the priestly dignity also attend you in the 
same, and guard you from all rude and insulting treat- 
ment !' Could Gregory express himself more mildly 
and affectionately to one who, without any great merit, 
now enjoyed the fruits of his strenuous labours in 
Constantinople 1 

How entirely in earnest Gregory was in his declara- 
tions of satisfaction with his quiet position, and how 



1 Epist. 222, and 227, p 913. 

2 Epist. 51, al. 3, p. 812. 



268 GREGORY ENJOYS [SECT. IV. 

little lie coveted the active occupation of ecclesiastical 
dignity, with all its weight and influence, is sufficiently 
proved by the expressions with which he declined re- 
peated invitations to attend synods. When Theodosius 
(a.d. 382) caused him to be invited to a meeting of the 
bishops at Constantinople, 1 he thus answered Procopius, 2 
who had communicated to him the wish of the emperor : 
c I am, if the truth must be told, in such a tone of mind 
that I shun every assemblage of bisJwps, because I have 
never yet seen that any synod had a good ending, or 
that the evils complained of were removed by them, but 
were rather multiplied; since the spirit of dispute and 
the love of power (and do not think that I am here using 
too strong language) are exhibited there beyond all powers 
of description. And any one who dares to speak against 
the baseness of others, would be more sure to bring 
down censure and complaints upon himself than succeed 
in subduing that baseness. For that reason I have re- 
tired into myself, and have found rest for my soul only 
in this withdrawal from the world. At present, how- 
ever, I can also plead illness in justification of my re- 
solve, since my end seems almost always at hand, and I 
am profitable for nothing. Therefore let your genero- 
sity pardon me; and I pray you also that you would 
reconcile the pious emperor to this refusal, so that he 
may not condemn me as remiss, but make allowance for 
my weakness, out of regard to which he has granted to 
my petition, instead of all other favours, the privilege 



1 In the summer of 382, a synod was again assembled at Con- 
stantinople, which, however, was neither so numerously attended, 
nor so important, as that which was held the year before. Theo- 
doret., v. 8. 

2 Epist. 55, al. 42, p. 814. 



CHAP. I.] HIS RETIREMENT. 269 

of retirement.' A most remarkable letter! which cer- 
tainly inflicts a heavy blow upon the godly character 
and reputation of synods. Gregory knew the synods 
by experience; he was convinced that they only multi- 
plied evils in the Church : how could he, therefore, reco- 
gnise instruments of the Holy Ghost in those same 
individuals, whom he saw to be so entirely animated by 
a spirit of contention and ambition ? And these thoughts 
he expressed, not only in an occasional mood of excite- 
ment and displeasure, but repeatedly, 1 and on different 
occasions. Among other passages, he writes thus to a 
friend 2 who had invited him to a meeting of bishops: 
' I hasten to come to you, in order to talk with you 
solus cum solo; for as to the assemblies and synods, 
I keep myself at a distance from them, since I have 
found by experience, that most of them (that I may 
express myself in moderation) are not worth much.' 

On his return to his native city, Gregory did not find 
the christian community there in quite a flourishing 
condition. We possess a poem by Gregory, 3 which 
contains a description of the christian community of 
Nazianzum after his father's death, and, from several 
expressions 4 in it, it might be fairly referred to this 
point of time. In this poem, the Apollinarians 5 are 



1 Epist. 76, p. 830. 

2 Ernst. 84, p. 42. We could, besides this, collate here seve- 
ral other epistles, in which Gregory calls upon distinguished 
persons, in secular authority, to exercise their influence, that 
at several synods to be holden at that time peace and order may 
be preserved among the bishops. Epist. 71 and 72, al. 68 and 
69, pp. 827—829; Epist. 134 and 135, p. 863. 

3 Carmen Iambic, xxiii. rig kavrov, p. 243. 

4 Particularly line 35 et seq. 

5 They are called aapKoXdrpai (serving the flesh). — Car men 
Iambic, xxiii. line 87. 



270 HE STILL AIDS THE [SECT. IV. 

especially designated as those who had brought the 
Church there into so sad a condition. Gregory, who 
must have felt this severely, exerted himself to give the 
community a director who would be able to oppose the 
prevailing evil. He thought to find such an one in a 
man, who certainly had hitherto filled a secular office 
in the finance-department, 1 but yet appeared to possess 
the proper qualifications, at least the right disposition, 
for the episcopal office. He saw himself, however, hin- 
dered in the execution of his plan by the presbyters 2 of 
Nazianzum, of whom he remarks, that some concealed 
a real aversion by a hypocritical show of friendship 
towards him, while others had exerted themselves in 
open hostility against him. He also complains that 
bishops, who had probably promised to support his plan, 
had on this occasion deceived him. 3 It appears that 
Gregory, after the failure of this attempt, gave the com- 
munity another ruler, whose name, likewise, is unknown 
to us. He soon after withdrew to his patrimonial 
estate near Nazianzum. 4 

Scarcely, however, had Gregory been absent for a 
time from Nazianzum, when the necessity of possessing 
such a man as he was, was felt with renewed strength. 
The clergy and the people urged him to return into the 
city and oppose the Apollinarian heresy, that was spread- 
ing more and more around them. They would listen 



1 Carmen Iambic, xxiii. line 61. Gregory says of him : 

~Kai7rep veuxjTi x9^1^a.TbJV 
KpdroQ dedeyfievov. 

2 Carmen Iambic, xxiii. line 66 — 86. 

3 Carmen Iambic, xxiii. line 115 : 

'E/c fx rj7rdrrj(7av oi acxpoi 

Aa&V S7TL(TK07rOl. 

4 Carmen Iambic, xxiii. line 61 et seq. p. 74. 



CHAP. I.] CHURCH AT NAZIANZUM. 271 

to none of Gregory's grounds of excuse — even distrusted 
his assurance that he was too old and infirm/ and ac- 
tually gave him no peace until he once more formed the 
determination to undertake the superintendence of the 
Church of Nazianzum. 2 In that passage of the poem 
where he speaks of this determination, he expresses 
himself as if it were his purpose to devote the rest of 
his life entirely to spiritual duties in that community ; 3 
but he speaks, at the same time, in such strong terms 
of his bodily weakness, that it is to be presumed, from 
his very manner of expressing himself, that he could 
not long have supported the exertions connected, espe- 
cially under such circumstances, with the episcopal office, 
but would soon again have required the enjoyment of 
repose and quiet. In fact, we see that, without relating 
any particular occasion for the change, Gregory again de- 
termines to withdraw himself from public life ; and he 
could now do so (in spite of the real sympathy and affection 
which he still cherished for his native city) with so much 
the greater satisfaction, as a worthy successor now sup- 
plied his place. He had been successful in persuading the 
bishops of the neighbourhood to comply with his wishes, 
by electing the presbyter Eulalius bishop of Nazian- 
zum; 4 a choice, concerning which Gregory thus ex- 
presses himself in an epistle to his relative, the Bishop of 
Nyssa : 5 ' I would most urgently request that no one 



1 Carmen v. line 72, p. 24 : 

UoWoi fisv Tpv^errtcov sfiolg ira&seaaiv airiOTOi. 

2 Carmen v. line 84, et seq. p. 75, 

8 Carmen v. line 83, et seq. p. 75 ; and at line 85 he says : 
vol (Kpiars) wapsxio ZwrjQ rods Xeixisavov. 

4 Epist. 195. p.' 803. Epist. 225, p. 912. Hieronym. de Yiri 
Fllustr., cap. 117. 

5 Epist. 42, al. 36, p. 803 : Gregorio Nysseno. 



272 HE STILL AIDS THE [SECT. IV. 

would circulate false reports concerning me or the 
bishops, as if they, in opposition to my wish, had named 
some other person to be my successor ; for I am by no 
means so despicable in their estimation, nor are they so 
spitefully disposed towards me. The truth is, that I 
have more than once prayed them, out of consideration 
to my half-dead body, and (because I feared the heavy 
responsibility of neglecting Christ's flock) I have be- 
sought it as a favour, that they would give the Church a 
shepherd — a thing which is not against the laws of the 
Church, and might ensure my recovery. Such a shep- 
herd was then appointed, in the person of one who is 
fully worthy to be remembered by you in your prayers. 
I now also place him in your hands — the venerable 
Eulalius, the bishop beloved of God, and in whose arms 
I would wish to breathe my last ! But if any one things, 
that as long as a bishop is living no other should be 
chosen in his place, let him know that he thereby de- 
cides nothing against us, since everybody knows that I 
was not consecrated bishop of Nazianzum, but of Sa- 
sima, 1 although I undertook, for a short time, the super- 



1 Gregorius says very plainly: Tlaa yap drjXov, on.firj Na?iai>- 
£oi>, ^acjijjiojv Se 7rposj6X?73'7?/x€i/. He repeats this expression in 
another passage, Epist. ccxxv. p. 912, where, however, he asserts 
directly the contrary, while he says thus unambiguously : kyd) 
yap, el [xev rov (nofiarog vvrivg tlx ov ^Q iiacXrjffiag SvvaaSai 
Trpoffrarruv, Ncr£i«r£<>j, y rr)v apx'nv S7riKr]pvx^V v ' a\\d firf 
SatTtjLiotc, wq tlveq vfiac TreiSovfjiv, ovk opSujQ. Both letters 
were written about the same time. Can the contradiction that 
exists in the passages above quoted be removed ? Scarcely so as 
to make it altogether disappear ; in part, however, after this 
fashion. Gregory was certainly consecrated bishop of Sasima 
by the then Cappadocian metropolitan, Basilius ; but this conse- 
cration, as being an act of spiritual violence, he had not fully 
acknowledged, and had never entered upon the duties of the 
office. As bishop of Nazianzum he never was properly conse- 



CHAP. II.] NAZIANZEN CHURCH. 273 

intendence of the Nazianzen Church, as a guest rather 
than a bishop, out of respect to my father, and those who 
suppliantly entreated me to do so.' 



CHAPTER II. 

GREGORY WITHDRAWS HIMSELF INTO PERFECT RETIREMENT, BUT 
STILL TAKES AN INTEREST IN CHURCH MATTERS, AND IN THE 
CONCERNS OF HIS FATHERLAND, OF PARTICULAR FAMILIES, 
AND INDIVIDUALS. 

Gregory now regularly devoted himself to the solitude 
of the country, and led, up to the time of his death, the 
externally uniform life of a christian ascetic in his 
patrimonial house at Arianzum, where a garden, with 
its shady trees and fountain, was his favourite resort. 
He however by no means gave himself up to an indolent 
repose ; amidst strict religious exercises he was still ear- 
nestly active, and in many ways influential, even in worldly 
matters. This is proved by the vast number of epistles 
and poems which he wrote at this period, and which 
were, in part at least, intended to effect some good pur- 
pose in particular relations of life, whether far or near. 
It is hardly possible, and, if it were possible, it would 
excite very little interest, to particularize, in the exact 
order of time, all the little incidents which may have 
occurred in this epoch of Gregory's uniform existence. 



crated, though lie had in fact exercised the episcopal duties there. 
He was therefore in a certain sense bishop of Sasima and of 
Nazianzum, but he was so, in a certain sense, neither in one 
place nor in the other. This, however, certainly does not justify 
him in trifling or playing with these relations, and making a 
pretext, now of one and now of the other. 

T 



274 GREGORY STILL INTERESTS HIMSELF [SECT. IV. 

We will rather arrange them according to some leading 
points of view, and thus exhibit the subjects which par- 
ticularly engaged his attention, as well as his tone of 
thought and activity of mind. 

Although Gregory had wholly divested himself of 
ecclesiastical offices, properly so called, yet he did not 
cease to take a part in the general concerns of the Church. 
His efforts were particularly and constantly directed to 
the maintenance of peace and order. It was probably 
in the early part of his retired life, that for this object 
he wrote some letters to distinguished statesmen, whom 
he supposed likely to have a favourable influence on the 
minds of the bishops at an approaching synod. He was 
afraid that even in that assembly, the general good 
would be sacrificed to the spirit of contention and to 
private interest ; he was willing, therefore, to make every 
effort to prevent that. With this feeling, he wrote thus to 
an influential person, named Posthumianus : l ' Consider 
no object more noble than that under your authority, and 
by means thereof, peace may be maintained in the 
Church, even though it were necessary to proceed, for 
that object, with some severity against the noisy leaders 
of a party. If I seem in this to be somewhat prema- 
ture, yet do not wonder that, although I have retired 
from actual business, I yet have not given up all anxiety 
for the common good ; for though, according to the 
wish of those men, I relinquished the bishop's chair and 
its proud dignity, I by no means gave up the practice of 
piety to them. So much the more, then, I think I may 
confidently reckon upon your compliance, inasmuch as 
I can have no eye to my own advantage, but solely to 



Epist. 71, al. 68, p. 827. 



CHAP. II.] IN WORLDLY MATTERS. 275 

the common interests of the community.' Gregory wrote 
similar letters to other eminent individuals, 1 amongst 
others to the general, Modarius, 2 whether on the same 
or on some other occasion, it would be difficult to deter- 
mine. If now this step of Gregory's be liable (as per- 
haps it may be) to be disapproved — viz., his calling upon 
secular placemen, and even a powerful general, to main- 
tain order among the assembled bishops — we have only 
to reflect with what excited passions (a fact which 
Gregory had sufficient opportunities of knowing) a great 
portion of those ecclesiastics came to those meetings, and 
we shall, at least, not misapprehend his good purpose of 
promoting the best interests of the Church. 

We have already remarked that, after his retiring 
from Constantinople, Gregory found the community of 
his native city disturbed, particularly by Apollinarians. 
These teachers maintained their ground perseveringiy, 
made various attempts to establish themselves in the 
Church, or even to get the upper hand therein; and 
Gregory looked upon it as a duty, even in his solitary 
retirement, to contend against them. With this view, 
beside the poem already mentioned, 3 he wrote several 
epistles, the object of which was to thwart the influence 
of the Apollinarians. In a letter to Theodoras, 4 bishop 
of Tyana, after lamenting the melancholy state of the 
Nazianzen community, and his own infirmities, which 
prevented his personal exertions, he says: f To pass 
over others, you will have heard from my honoured co- 



1 Epist 72, al. 69, p. 829. Epist. 134, p. 863. 

2 Epist. 135, p. 863. 

8 Carmen Iambic, xxiii. tig lavrbv, p. 244 et seq. 
4 Epist. 88, p. 843. 

T 2 



276 GEEGORY STILL INTERESTS HIMSELF [SECT. IV. 

presbyters, the choir *-bishop Eulalius and Celeusius, 
what the Apollinarians (who are forcing themselves 
upon us) have partly done already, and are partly threat- 
ening to do. I am now too old and feeble to prevent 
this, but you are intelligent and sufficiently strong ; and, 
what is more, God has granted you power for the general 
superintendence of the Church.' Another epistle, ad- 
dressed to the governor, Olympius, 1 furnishes us with 
still clearer information respecting these circumstances. 
Gregory therein tells him, that he had at first endea- 
voured to gain over the Apollinarians by kindness, and 
to dissuade them from their errors ; but that they had 
only been made worse thereby, and more obdurate ; and he 
believed that more serious measures must now be adopted 
towards them. ( For (he says) these pernicious men have 
presumed to recal, or at least (for I cannot positively 
say which) to make use of bishops, who have been de- 
posed from their office by the whole assembled clergy of 
the East and West. In violation of all the imperial 
commands and our ecclesiastical regulations, they have 
assigned the name of bishop to a godless, fraudulent 
individual taken from their own body. And to this, as 
I believe, they have been encouraged by nothing so much 
as by my serious illness. Is this to be tolerated? You 
perhaps, as a strong man, may bear it ; and so also can I 
endure it, as I have endured many other things. It is, 
however, too serious an evil to be neglected ; and as the 



* I am told by a learned Mend that this ' cAoz r-bishop' should 
be a country or country -town bishop ; the mistake being in the 
Creek, HoptiriGKoicoq, instead of Xa>p£7no7co7roc — not ~5Lopbe, a 
choir, but Xwpoc, a place. — Translator. 

1 Epist. 77, p. 831. Gregory wrote this epistle from the 
hot-baths of Xanxaris, where he was staying, by the advice of his 
physicians, on account of his health. 



CHAP. II.] IX WORLDLY MATTERS. 277 

best emperors have not suffered it, so be you willing to 
correct what has been done amiss.' x 

Gregory preserved a continued interest, not only in 
the ecclesiastical , but also in the civil concerns of his 
fatherland. He endeavoured everywhere to avert dis- 
order and mischief— to establish love and peace. The 
inhabitants of Nazianzum had on some occasion (pro- 
bably of tumultuary excitement, which was at that time 
so easily called forth by any act of military despotism) 
provoked the anger of the Imperial lieutenant, Olyni- 
pius; and this Olympius had determined to punish, or 
rather to revenge himself upon the refractory part of 
the conquered people, in a fearful manner, even by the 
destruction of the city. Gregory was prevented by 
sickness from appearing personally before the lieutenant 
(who, as it appears, was kindly disposed towards him), 
but he wrote to him an excellent epistle, 2 full of urgent 
exhortations to mercy; in which, among other things, he 
says : l Terrible is the death of one fellow-creature, who 
to-day is, and to-morrow is no more, and will no more 
return to us. But much more terrible a thing is it to 
destroy a city, which an emperor founded, which time 
enlarged, and succeeding years have fostered. I speak 
to you of Biocsesarea, 3 which was once a city, but now is 



1 "We have, besides, two celebrated and longer missives, ad- 
dressed by Gregory to the presbyter Cledonius, and an epistle to 
his successor, Nectarius, in which he attacks the Apollinarians. 
The dogmatic matter of these treatises will be given more suitably 
in another part of this work. 

3 Epist. 49, al. 40, p. 809. 

3 Xazianzum had also the Dame of Diocsesarea. See above, 
p. 13, note. Pliny, in his Nat. Jlist., vi. 3, mentions Diocassarea 
among the cities of Cappadocia, but not Xazianzum. He seems, 
however, to take them for one and the same city. 



278 GREGORY STILL INTERESTS HIMSELF [.SECT. IV. 

so no longer, if you are not merciful to it. Imagine. I 
pray you, while I lend it voice, that it is now fallen 
down before you, and through me addresses you. 
Clothed with mourning garments, her hair shorn off, as 
in a tragedy, she thus appeals to you : ' Stretch forth 
thine hand to me, who am prostrate before thee on the 
ground, and help my weakness ; increase not the cala- 
mities of the time, and destroy not what the Persians 
have still left to us. Surely it is far nobler to raise up 
again fallen cities, than to destroy those that are already 
suffering distress. Be rather a builder of cities, by 
either making them again to flourish, or, at least, by 
preserving them in their present condition. Do not 
allow it to be said, that till your government it was a city, 
but from that time was so no longer; and let not the 
melancholy tale be told of you, that you received it as a 
city, but left it a desolate place, where the eye would rest 
only on elevations and depressions, and on heaps of 
ruins, the signs of a former city.' Thus far Gregory 
speaks in the name of the city; he then subjoins ex- 
hortations in his own person, while he declares it 
to be undoubtedly right to punish the guilty, but too 
cruel to plunge a whole community into misery, on 
account of the foolhardiness of some few young men, 
Gregory appears also to plead for the more merciful 
treatment of the authors of the tumult, while he also 
remarks how greatly they had been provoked: ' They 
mourned, as it were, for their mother, who had been 
put to death; they could not endure to be called citi- 
zens, and yet be without a city (i. e. s without ] political 



1 Mf}rpog v ~ epi]\yi] era v peKpov/uvtjg, ovk rjvtylcav TroXirat 

KaXuaZai. Kai tlvai ctTroXicEc. The city of Xazianzum had pro- 
bably been deprived of considerable privileges. 



CHAP. II.] IX WORLDLY MATTERS. 279 

rights); it drove them mad, and in that state of mind 
they violated the laws, and forfeited their own interests; 
the unexpected misfortune deprived them of their senses. 
But must the city for that reason be destroyed? Far be 
it from a distinguished man like thee to order such a 
thing to be done !' 

This epistle appears not to have failed of its contem- 
plated effect, for in another address, in which Gregory 
laments the recal of Olympius, he gives the most flat- 
tering testimony to his good government, and assures 
him that his departure would be deplored, that he him- 
self would bear away with him great riches, and such 
as governors seldom collected, viz., a good reputation, 
and the privilege of being inscribed on the hearts of all 
in indelible characters. 1 The friendly relation in which 
Greo'orv stood towards this o-overnor is still farther 
shown by a whole series of letters, 2 which, for the most 
part, were directed to the effecting some good for the 
unfortunate and those who had been unjustly perse- 
cuted, or to obtain a remission of too severe a punish- 
ment. 

From his solitary abode Gregory frequently took upon 
himself, with affectionate solicitude, the charge of indi- 
vidual persons and ivhole families. Strict and severe 
as he was towards himself, we yet always find in him a 
true fellow-feeling for the peculiar circumstances of 
others. T >Yhile he rejoiced with them that rejoiced, he 



1 Epist. 50, al. 41, p. 811. In the same epistle Gregory remarks, 
that through the departure of Olympius they would again become 
the second Cappadocia ; whereas, through him, they had been 
raised to the rank of the first. 

2 See Epist. 172, and the seven which follow it; pp. 879 — 
883. 



280 GREGORY STILL INTERESTS HIMSELF [SECT. IV. 

not only wept with those who wept, but also assisted 
them where it was possible. He, who had himself re- 
nounced marriage and extolled the virgin-state, yet 
honoured, in return, the married state as God's divine 
appointment, and laboured always to maintain domestic 
relations in purity and holiness. He, who in many 
moments of his advanced age felt painfully how lonely 
he was in the world, without wife and children, 1 could 
rejoice with real sympathy in the happiness of two per- 
sons so bound together in love. It was with this feel- 
ing that he thus congratulates a young friend, named 
Eusebius, on his marriage : 2 i Euopia, your beloved, is 
now thine; the moment of your marriage is arrived; 
the happiness of your life is made secure ; the prayers 
of your parents are heard, and I, who ought properly to 
have been present, and have taken part in your solemn 
service, (as indeed I had even promised,) must be at a 
distance. What we wish for, we readily hope to enjoy; 
and we easily deceive ourselves, when we would gladly 
do a thing. I have even several times attempted to set 
out, then again I hesitated, and have at last been over- 
come by sickness. Others, then, must invoke the powers 
of love, (for playful mirth becomes the nuptial festivity,) 
and describe the beauty of the bride with a painter's 
skill, and then, by way of contrast, the bridegroom's 



1 This loneliness in the world is excellently expressed in the 
following lines, in which he touchingly laments, that he knows not 
what hand would close his eyes. Carra. viii. 11 et seq. p. 77; 

* A&povog, aTrroXUSpoc, airaig, TtKeeovi /i«ju?/Xwc, 
Zwwv Vfiap £7r' 7]{.iap aenrXai'ktaai TroSetrtn, 
riot pi\lb) to?s Gwfia ; rl fioi rsXog avTij3oXi]<TEi : 
Tic yjjj; rig ce tclqoc jie (piXottvoc ap$iKa\vij/Ei 3 
Tig 8* ovgoic fiivvSovoiv £/ioTc kirt c&ktvXg. ^ijaei; .... 

2 Eput. 171, p. 878. 



CHAP. II.] IX WORLDLY MATTERS. 281 

gracefulness; and, lastly, bedeck the bridal-bed with 
complimentary addresses, as with flowers. I also will 
sing to you both my marriage-song : i The Lord bless 
you out of Sion, and bestow harmony on your married- 
state ! Mayest thou by his blessing see thy sons (and 
sons' sons I had almost said) still nobler than thyself!' 
This is what I should have asked for you, if I had been 
present; and I now earnestly invoke it upon you.' In 
another somewhat more grave epistle, 1 in which Gregory 
greets a certain person, named Diodes, on the occasion 
of his marriage, he says : c One of the highest and great- 
est blessings is, that Christ is present in the marriage- 
solemnity. But where Re is, there also is good order, 
there water becomes wine, there, generally, everything 
is changed for the better.' 

As in these instances we see Gregory displaying a 
lively interest in domestic enjoyments, so we also find 
him exerting his influence beneficially where the happi- 
ness of a family, or the pure relations of the married life, 
were in danger of being disturbed. He endeavoured 
not only to prevent divorce, proceeding in such cases 
with great tact and discretion, (as several of his letters 
show, 2 ) but he also exerted himself to remove the minor 
discrepancies which had crept in between married people. 
Remarkable in this respect is a half- jesting epistle 3 of 
Gregory's to Nicobulus, the husband of his niece Aly- 
piana, in which he exhibits, in some excellent remarks, 
the unreasonableness of his ideas in treating: the exter- 
nals of his wife as mean and insignificant. i Thou jeerest 



3 Epist. 193, p. 890. 

2 Epist. 176, p. 881. Epist. 131, p. 8S4. Epist. 211, 
p. 904. 

3 Epist, 155, p. 871. 



2S'2 GREGORY -TILL INTERESTS HIMSELF [SECT. IV. 

me (he says) about Alypiana, a? if she w -mall of 

stature, and unworthy of thy stately suae, thou large, 

and powerful, and immeasurable one in form 

strength ! I have now learnt for the first time that the 

soul is to be measured, and virtue weighed 

are more precious than pearls, and ravens superior to 

nightingales. Take now to thyself thy stature 

those many feet in height which thou missest in thy 

wife, and be. I pray thee, as great as the famous Aloidae ; 

for thou canst guide the steed, and hurl the spear, and 

is in the chase; but she. : 

nothing, for no great strength is required to h 

shuttle, to handle the thread, and tc sit at the loam! 

Far that is the gloxy ofwomei 
T : 3 :.<.: ykoag iirri * 

Or. if thou wilt add this also, that ahc is : : wed down for 
the sake of prayer, that she is constantly occupied with 
God in great emotion of mind; — what. I ask thee, is thy 
largeness and height of body here by cc raj. arise n I 
serve, however, her becoming silence j listen tc herwhen 
she speaks; and - unadorned she is. how a 

as a mistress, how economically she manages her fa : 
how she loves her husband. Thou wilt then say. with 
the Lacedaemonian: ; the soul truly is not to be mea- 
sured;' and though we are as tc each Jther, external, 
we must look to the inner man if we would know one 
another. 2 VThen thou hast learnt to Ic :": at the ma 



1 This is an apr. '.'.. " :.:: :-.:. -i-:: :_y::.:; ::: : :v. z~ ::r- = 
sion in the Iliad, iv. B23: To yap ytpac egti fEpomnr. 
xvi . - .; 7 : Tb yap ykpag karl : a : h rtnr. 

- . . . . k aiSei Ti I I '- E ioi'ra ~pbc rbv ixrbc : : - ::: Ivcouj" 
rrov. a? it stands in the printed text ; but, withoet a doubt, it 
should be. ttooq rbv svroc. k.t.X. Who this Lacedaemonian was, 
and where the passage ifi tc be found, I cannot specify. 



CHAP. II.] IN WORLDLY MATTERS. 283 

thus, thou wilt cease to jest at her expense by laughing 
at the sinallness of her figure, and wilt bless God for 
thy happy marriage.' 1 

The letters which Gregory wrote to, and concerning, 
a person whom he had greatly befriended (and who is 
addressed as Sacerdos), are particularly beautiful. This 
Sacerdos had already, in his early youth, devoted himself 
with earnest zeal to a life of piety, (see Epist. 212,) and 
thereby gained the love of Gregory (who, with especial 
distinction, calls him his son — Fjnst. 93), and attracted 
the attention of other distinguished ecclesiastics. He 
became a presbyter, and subsequently the superintendent 
of a considerable institution for the poor, 2 probably that 
which was founded by Basil at Cassarea, and which was 
extremely important and beneficial. He seems, at the 
same time, to have been the head of a monastery, or 
(more probably) of the monks who had devoted them- 
selves to the care of the poor and sick in that institu- 
tion. It came to pass, however, (we are not positively 
told from what cause,) that Sacerdos had a misunder- 
standing with one of his friends, Eudocius, 3 and thereby, 
probably, with Helladius, the bishop of Caasarea. This 
disagreement resulted in the removal of Sacerdos from 



1 This Nicobulus, who is here, half in play and half in earnest, 
set right by Gregory, appears, however, from some of the other 
epistles, to have possessed many excellent qualities, and to have 
done the state good service. At least, Gregory employed himself 
earnestly in his cause, when he had become involved in unfortu- 
nate circumstances, and wrote, on his account, a whole series of 
letters of recommendation. — Epist. 46, 48, 107, 116, 160, 178, 
179, 188, 218. 

2 Epist. 233. 'O TijAiwraroQ Kai SsoQikscrTaToc vlbg fjfiujv 
'EatcsoSujg 6 (Jv/iTrpeGfivTapoQ, ?rrai%£iov ttposgttjks tujv linniq^v 
TioXvcivSpwirov, ev<7e/3eiag re 'ivEKa Kai ttjq eig to Trpayfia 

(JTTOvdrJQ. 

3 Epist. 235 and 236, torn. ii. 



284 GREGORY STILL INTERESTS HIMSELF [SECT. IV. 

his appointment, and his being persecuted by these 
parties. He had till then led a very quiet, undisturbed 
life, as to externals, and was not accustomed to vexations 
and trials of this sort. Gregory, therefore, considered 
it all but a duty to remind his friend, that such expe- 
riences were necessary for the formation of a truly pious 
and purified mind. He wrote to him several excellent 
letters. ' If (he says) l you expected to meet with 
nothing unpleasant when you devoted yourself to the 
pursuit of wisdom, your very beginning was without 
wisdom, and I cannot but blame those who educated 
you ; if you did expect it, then thank God for the time 
in which it did not befal you. But if it now befal 
you, either bear it courageously, or know that your vow 
was a mere lie.' In another letter, 2 after showing from 
his own experience how a man can become truly stead- 
fast and approved only by trials, he says : ( What greater 
benefit can we partake of than such trials? If you 
understand it aright, you will thank God for the injus- 
tice you have suffered, even though you cannot thank 
those who have done it to you' A third, and somewhat 
longer letter 3 contains quite as striking a remark: 
' What can he dreadful to us ? Nothing but the falling 
away from God and godliness. Let all things else turn 
out as God may order them, whether he guides us now 
by the gentle instruments of justice in his right hand, 
or by those of a contrary character in his left. He, the 
director of our life ; knows wherefore he does so. One 
thing only will we fear, lest we do anything unworthy 
of a wise man. We have fed the poor, we have exer- 



I Ernst. 214, p. 905. 2 Epist. 215, p. 905. 

« Epist, 216, p. 905. 



CHAP. II.] IX WORLDLY MATTERS. 285 

cised brotherly love, we have joined with pleasure in 
holy songs as long as it was granted us to do so. It is 
not permitted any longer ; we will think, then, of some- 
thing else ; for grace is never poor. We will live for 
ourselves, devot.e ourselves to contemplation, purify our 
minds for the reception of heavenly impressions, which 
probably is a more holy occupation than the above- 
mentioned. We are not so constituted as to complain 
that we have lost all when one thing fails us ; but if 
fair hope be still with us, we have still something re- 
maining.' 

Gregory wrote another series of letters, 1 in order to 
bring about a reconciliation between Sacerdos and his 
opponents ; with what success we know not exactly. 
Sacerdos subsequently travelled to Constantinople on 
his own affairs, with introductory letters from Gregory. 2 
We might tlience conclude, that, being still persecuted, 
he went thither to obtain justice. It is certain, how- 
ever, that Sacerdos departed out of this life before 
Gregory; since we possess a beautiful letter addressed 
by the latter to the sister of Sacerdos, the pious Thecla, 3 
in which he consoles her on the loss of her brother. 
' From whence, then, (he says, among 4 other things) — 
whence had the good Sacerdos his origin ? Was it not 



1 Epist 216, 217, 235, 236, 237. - 

2 Epist. 91 and 92, p. 845. 

3 This woman lived in solitude, in the neighbourhood of a 
martyr's chapel, in prayer, meditation, and spiritual exercises. 
Gregory addressed several letters to her. — Epist. 200, 201, 202, 
pp. 897 — 899. ^ In his 2Qlst Epistle he says to her : — tidofitv 

ydp GOV TO GTSpElDLia TTJQ £IQ XpiGTOV TTlGTZOjg, Kai T7JV llTaiVhTY]V 

\pr\\iiav, Kai rbv (pi\6cro<pov idiaGfibv' on wavrajv xtoptuS^Ta'a tCjv 
rod Kocrfiov TEpirvatv, 9f<p \xovip GvvsKXeiGag aeavrrjv, Kai rolg 
ayioig fxaprvcriv, oig irapoiKug. 

4 Epist. 202, p. 899. 



286 HIS EPISTLES [SECT. IV. 

from God ? And where is Sacerdos now 1 With God. 
With no reluctance (I know full well) did he depart 
out of the reach of envy and from the contest with the 
Evil-one. And whence are we ? Are we not also from 
thence ? And whither shall we go for perfect freedom 1 
Is it not to the same Lord ? Happy will it be for us, if 
we can do this with the same confidence !' 

At this period Gregory often received young men, in 
order to assist them in their studies. He particularly 
interested himself in his young kinsman, Mcobulus, son 
of the above-mentioned Nicobulus and Alypiana. He 
wrote, in the name of this young man, a poem of some 
length, 1 with the view of obtaining for him his parents' 
consent for a journey to Greece. He also furnished him 
with several introductory letters to celebrated teachers. 2 
Gregory supplied other youths also with similar epistles, 
since he kept up an intimate correspondence with many 
of the most distinguished masters in philosophy and 
rhetoric. 



CHAPTEE III. 

Gregory's epistles and poems. 

So many extracts have already been given from 
Gregory's epistles, and the composition of the same 
(if we judge only from the number of those which 
remain to us) must have occupied so considerable a 
portion of the time spent by him in his solitary retire- 
ment at Arianzum, that it would not be superfluous to 



* Carmen L p. 112, 115. 

2 Eplst. 115, 116, 117, p. 853 et seq. 



CHAP. III.] AND POEMS. 287 

say something generally concerning his JEjnstles, even 
if we did not possess some remarkable declarations by 
Gregory himself, respecting this very point. It is not 
to be denied that the epistles of Gregory belong to his 
best literary productions. Many of them are composed 
with great industry, and a good number of them were 
manifestly calculated, not only for the use of the indivi- 
dual recipients, but also for a wider circle of readers. 
It must therefore be pleasant to us to hear expressly 
from Gregory himself the rules according to which, in 
his judgment, a good letter should be composed. 

He attaches, in the first place, great importance to 
genuine, laconic brevity. c To write laconically is not 
to write a few syllables, but to say much in a few words. 
In this sense, I call Homer brief in expression, but 
Antimachus prolix. And how 1 Because I measure a 
poem by its contents, and not by the number of letters. 1 
He explains himself still farther on this point, as on 
many others, in an epistle to Nicobulus :' 2 i Of those who 
write letters (for I may be allowed to say something 
to you on this subject), some write at too great length, 
others are too brief ; both fail of the proper medium. 
They are like persons shooting at a mark, who shoot, 
some above, some below ; both, however, miss it, though 
for different reasons. The proper kind of letter-writing 
consists in the happy medium ; we must neither write 



1 Epist. 3, p. 769. As a specimen of a laconic composition, by 
Gregory himself, we may take an epistle to Libanius, which he 
probably wrote in the name of a mother, who wished to recom- 
mend to the celebrated rhetorician her son, who was going to the 
Academy : — ' I, a mother, send a son to thee, a father ; the 
natural mother to thee, the father of eloquence. As I have cared 
for him, so do thou.' — Epist. 203, p. 899. 

8 Epist. 209, p. 903. 



288 HIS EPISTLES [SECT. IV. 

too long a one, if we have not much of importance to say, 
nor too short a one, when our matter for it is great. 
With respect to clearness or perspicuousness^ it is 
obvious that, in letter-writing, we should avoid as much 
as possible the oratorical style, and fall more into the 
tone of familiar chatting. 1 To express all this briefly, 
that is the best and most beautiful letter which can 
carry with it the convictions of the unlearned and 
learned reader; the former, in so far as it is adapted to 
the comprehension of the many : the latter, inasmuch 
as, while it is intelligible to all, it speaks a higher 
language to him. It is certainly a troublesome thing 
to be obliged to interpret a letter as if we were solving 
an enigma. The third quality of a good letter is agree- 
ableness ; this we shall attain, if we write nothing that 
is dry and repulsive, nothing without point or orna- 
ment, 2 but polished up, as people say ; the epistolary 
style, therefore, does not exclude similes, proverbs, and 
pithy aphorisms, nor yet playful wit, or words of double 
meaning (dunkle Worfce) by which it is, as it were, 
sweetened. We must, however, also avoid the abuse of 
these things. Their absence, it is true, shows the want 
of education ; their abuse, an insatiable appetite for 
them. Everything of the kind is to be applied 
sparingly, like purple in the texture of our clothing. 
Figurative expressions we also admit, yet few in num- 
ber, and those unobjectionable. But antithesis, and 
playing with syllogisms and nicely-articulated proposi- 
tions, we would leave to the Sophists ; and if we ever 



1 Hepl de rr\q cra(pr}viaQ, Ikuvo yvwpifiov on %p?) (pevyovra to 
\oyoeiSeg, octov eV^t^grai, fiaWov tig to \a\iicbv a7rotz\iv£.iv. 

2 We read in the printed text, evK0p7]Ta ; it must, however, be 
aicoprjTa, unornamented. 



CHAP. III.] AND POEMS. 289 

make use of them, we would do it more in play than in 
earnest. My last rule I will give in the words of an 
ingenious man, who relates, that when the birds dis- 
puted among themselves for the mastery, and one pre- 
sented himself with this ornament and another with 
that, the eagle was the most beautiful amongst them, 
simply because it was not remarked that he was beauti- 
ful. To this point, therefore, we should particularly 
attend in writing letters, viz., to be unadorned, and, as 
much as possible, natural. Thus much briefly concern- 
ing letters ; what has been here said, however, is not 
to be applied to me, who have my heart oppressed with 
weightier matters. What else is wanting to complete 
the subject you will gain for yourself by careful study; 
for you are willing to learn, and those persons who are 
conversant with these things will instruct you fully 
therein.' One cannot but see that, although Gregory in 
the last quoted words appears to disclaim it, he yet here 
develops the rules which he himself was accustomed to 
observe in the composition of his epistles. In fact, his 
letters are, for the most part, short, clear, expressed in 
beautiful yet unadorned language — in a word, excellently 
written. The language in which they are clothed is 
generally suited to the object which he wished to 
obtain ; and if, here and there, anything ornamented or 
far-fetched in thought or expression has slipped in, it 
seems as if occasionally (when, for instance, he writes to 
sophists or rhetoricians, and other persons who paid 
homage to the perverted taste of the time) he had con- 
ceded somewhat to the requirements of the immediate 
readers of his epistles. Gregory himself prepared the 
collection of his epistles, at least of the greatest part of 
them, at the request of Nicobulus, whom we have 

u 



290 Gregory's epistles [sect. iv. 

already several times mentioned, and who wished to see 
them collected, from the conviction that much useful 
information was contained in this correspondence. 1 We 
have therefore to thank him for them. 

Besides epistolary writing, the composition of many 
poems 2 gave occupation to Gregory in his solitude. 
We could hardly pronounce so favourable a judgment 
upon these as upon his epistles. The mere circum- 
stance, that Gregory first began to devote himself to 
poetry at an advanced age, and in a state of ascetic 
retirement, is a proof that no great fulness and power 
of the spirit of poetry naturally dwelt in him; else, 
without doubt, it would have made itself known earlier. 
On the other hand, we might also conclude from thence, 
that his writing of poetry was not the passing effusion 
of youthful prattle, but that a real, if not a rich vein of 
poetry was embedded in his nature. His poetic sense 
expressed itself, not unfrequently, in earlier life in his 
orations ; afterwards, when he had no longer any occa- 
sion to express his poetic conceptions in an oratorical 
garb, he fell more into the formal exhibition of his 
thoughts in regular versification. Hence, however, re- 
sulted this untowardness, that the orations which he 
wrote in his earlier days were occasionally too poetical, 
while the poems, which he composed in his old age, are, 



1 Epist. 208, p. 209. 

2 The greater number and the most important of Gregory's 
poems are in the second volume of the edition of his works by 
Billy and Morel. There are some, also, in the following publica- 
tions : — Jac. Tollii, Insignia Itinerarii Italici, Traj. ad. JRhen. 
MDCXCVL pp. 1 — 105 ; Muratori, Anecdota Grceca, Patav. mdccix. 
pp. 1 — 217; Jacobs, AnthoJog. Grcec, vol. ii. There are also a 
few scattered elsewhere. See, on this point, Fabricii, Bibliothec. 
GrcBCf vol. viii. p. 416 et seq. 



CHAP. III.] AND POEMS. 291 

even more frequently, too prosaic. On this account, too, 
these poems of Gregory must necessarily have wanted 
the proper poetical keeping, because they were sub- 
servient to an almost absorbing object, moral or reli- 
gious, but external to the poetry itself. Honourable as 
this is to him as a man and a theologian, it was disad- 
vantageous to him as a poet ; for what he produced from 
such motives and in such a tone of mind, was rather 
the fruit of reflection and of calm consideration than 
of that truly poetic, creative energy, which is uncon- 
sciously drawn on to impart its feelings ; and the 
charm of originality, which commands the hearts of all 
hearers — the ease, the bewitching brightness, which 
characterise the true poet — could not express themselves 
in his poetry. In their stead, he was obliged rather to 
exhibit the poetic tone in an external manner; that is, 
by means of figures and tropes, by ornamental or high- 
sounding expressions, which he only too often borrowed 
unsuitably from other poets. And hence again arose 
frequently the strange inconsistency, that perfectly 
simple, ordinary, and highly prosaic thoughts are wrapt 
up in a cloud of figurative language, and, apparently, 
poetic forms. This holds good even of Gregory's 
better poems ; not to speak of those which treat of 
perfectly dry, unpoetic subjects, while, for instance, 
they enumerate the plagues of Egypt or the canonical 
books of Holy Scripture, compare the two genealogies 
of Jesus, exhibit the Ten Commandments in a few 
verses ; and the like. 

Most of Gregory's poems have the fault of length and 
diffusiveness. He often involves his thoughts and sen- 
timents in a multitude of words, from the midst of 
which it is difficult to find the simple truth; but then 
u 2 



292 Gregory's poems. [sect. iv. 

again we meet there, after toiling through much that is 
tiresome, with beautiful passages, full of deep feeling, 
and truly attractive. Some of his shorter pieces, which 
evidently issued from the pure feeling of the moment, 
might probably satisfy even the more rigid critic. Of 
these, however, there are but a few. He succeeded 
particularly in apophthegms, moral sentences, short and 
pregnant didactic poems. But as soon as he falls, in 
the course of his longer didactic poems, into dogmatic 
polemics and subtilties, or a discursive moralising strain, 
all claims to poetry naturally disappear. In thus speak- 
ing, however, we must not forget that Gregory actually 
looked upon it as a duty to compose in this style. In 
this respect, his poetry reveals the same active struggle 
which displays itself in his orations, his zeal for ortho- 
doxy, and his opposition to the heretical opinions of his 
generation. Several heretics, such as Paul of Samosata, 
Arius, and Apollinaris, 1 had given a great impulse to 
their doctrines by putting them into a poetic form, and 
thereby into the mouths and minds of the people. Gre- 
gory wished to counteract the mischief which had thus 
been occasioned, by means of poems written in an ortho- 
dox spirit, and a course of poetical polemics. Another 
similar motive for the composing of his poems has been 
mentioned in an earlier part of this work; they were 



1 In reference to the last of these, Gregory speaks thus at the 
end of his first epistle to Cledonius (see also. Orat. li. p. 745). 
Et £k oi fiaKpoi \6yot Kal rd via '^a\rr]oia, Kal avri(p$oyya rip 
Aafilc, Kal r) tujv fxsTpujv %ap*€, V Tpirrj diaSrjKT] vofAiZerai, Kal 
fifieig "tya\jio\oyi]GO\iiv, Kal troWa ypaihofitv Kal fisTprjcrofisv. 
In the poem To his own Verses (pp. 248, 249), Gregory specifies the 
different reasons which had induced him to compose poetry; 
among others, that he had wished to create thereby an amusing 
occupation for his sickly old age. 



CHAP. IV.] HIS DEATH AND CHARACTER. 293 

intended to be a substitute for the heathen poets, which 
(at least for a time) had been withdrawn from the 
Christians by Julian, and which Gregory, on general 
grounds, saw with apprehension in the hands of young 
Christians, because they might possibly incite to immoral 
practices. How little, however, the poetical composi- 
tions of Gregory could become a properly-poetical com- 
pensation for those works of Grecian genius, is sufficiently 
obvious from what has been already said. 



CHAPTER IV. 

GREGORY'S DEATH; HIS CHARACTER. 

Even the composition of poetry belonged, in the esti- 
mation of Gregory, to the ascetic practices, 1 whereby 
he sought to subdue all the desires of sense, and to direct 
his thoughts at all times to the worthiest objects. He 
continued these practices, in their whole extent and com- 
pass, even in old age with all the strictness of youthful 
zeal. 2 Even if many of the descriptions of his strict 
asceticism which he gives us in his poems — where, for 
instance, he speaks of himself as living alone in a cavern 
among wild beasts, going about without shoes, content 
with one coarse garment, sleeping on the ground covered 
only with a sack, 3 and so forth — even if such represen- 



1 Carmen in Versus suos, line 34, «p. 248. 

Up&rov fikv ri$rk\r](ra, rolg dWoig Kafjuhv, 
"Ovtio 7rs8ri<jai rrjv sfjtrjv afxapriav. 

2 Compare Carm. xviii. p. 93 ; xix. p. 93 ; lix. p. 136 ; Epist. 
196, p. 894. 

3 Carm. ii. 140, et seq. p. 70 ; Carm. vi. et seq. p. 75, and 
elsewhere. 



294 Gregory's death [sect. iv. 

tations may be rather poetically dressed up, yet it is 
clear, from his repeated declarations, that he renounced, 
almost entirely, the comforts and enjoyments which can 
agreeably cheer the life of man generally, and especially 
of an aged man. The older he grew, the more he desired 
(since no close family-ties any longer bound him to 
men) to devote himself to God, in solitary separation 
from the world. His life henceforth became more and 
more a mere preparation for death. 

During the whole of his earlier life Gregory had 
vacillated between two antagonist principles, in the happy 
combination of which he but seldom succeeded, — viz., 
solitary, ascetic contemplation and ecclesiastical activity. 
His education had already taught him to love the calm, 
contemplative life, and to look upon it as the highest 
object of desire, and it only required an impulse to 
develop more decidedly the bias that was slumbering in 
his soul. The moral spirit of his age, and the then con- 
dition of the Church, confirmed him still more in this 
direction. On the other hand, he was prompted to 
active exertion in ecclesiastical concerns by a powerful 
sense of duty, in which he recognised the inward call of 
the Divine Spirit, as well as many inducements, and even 
obligations, from without, in which he likewise saw the 
finger of God directing him. Thus he was ever being 
drawn out from retirement into active life, and was 
again withdrawn from the business of life by an inex- 
tinguishable longing after contemplative solitude. And 
this gave to his life a restless, vacillating, and unsettled 
character. At length the first impressions of his youth 
and the dormant requirements of his heart prevailed, 
and Gregory withdrew himself completely into solitude. 
In connexion, however, with the customary ascetic 



CHAP. IV.] AND CHARACTER. 295 

exercises, he gave himself up to that contemplation 
which, in accordance with his peculiar bias, seemed to 
him the surest and most direct way to a perfectly godly 
life, and to the closest connexion and most intimate 
intercourse with God. This he describes in the follow- 
ing passage : l i Nothing ever appeared to me so glorious 
as, with the senses, as it were, locked up, existing already 
out of the flesh and the world, retiring into oneself, 
meddling with no earthly business, (except in extreme 
necessity,) conversing only with God and oneself, to 
live already exalted above the visible world; to bear 
about upon oneself heavenly forms and impressions, 
pure and unmixed with the changeable forms of earth; 
in fact, to be and to become ever more and more a 
bright mirror of God and godly things ; to obtain light 
in addition to light, the clearer in addition to the less 
clear; to enjoy already in hope the good things of another 
world; to associate with angels; while yet moving on 
the earth to take leave of it, and to be transported by 
the Spirit to higher regions.' 

Gregory made use of, as a means of higher moral 
purification, even the bodily sufferings with which he 
had to struggle severely in these his last years His 
health, which, as it appears, was not strong by nature, 
and had been weakened by rigid asceticism, was now 
also affected by the infirmities of age. But he looked 
upon this infliction only as a means of spiritual training 
for a more complete education, and the sanctifying of 
the inner man. He wrote thus on the subject to his 



1 Orat. ii. 7. p. 14 ; xx. 1, p. 376. These expressions cer- 
tainly belong to an earlier period of his life : but his notions on 
this point were uniformly the same. 



296 Gregory's death [sect. iv. 

friend Philagrius, 1 who had also much to suffer from 
bodily discomfort: - It becomes you, a man so well- 
instructed in heavenly things, not to succumb to the 
body, but to bear suffering like a wise man, and now 
especially to purify your will, to show yourself exalted 
above the fetters of sense, and to look upon illness as a 
means of training us for our greatest happiness. But 
sickness becomes to us that greatest good, if it teach us 
to despise the body and all that is bodily, and, generally, 
all that is changeable and transitory; devoting ourselves 
wholly to that which is heavenly. So that, instead of 
living for the present, we live rather for the future, and 
make use of this life (as Plato says) only to learn how 
to die.' He wrote at another time to the same 2 friend 
in these words : ' I am suffering from sickness, and I 
am glad, not that I suffer, but that I may thereby become 
a teacher of patience to others. Since, then, I cannot 
now free myself from suffering, I look upon it as gain 
to bear it patiently, and as in joy, so also in pain to 
thank God; for I am convinced, that nothing which 
befalls us by the appointment of Supreme Wisdom is 
without good reason, even though it may not appear so 
to us.' Gregory was so entirely convinced of the moral 
benefit of bodily suffering for the improvement of the 
inner man, that he was thereby able to comfort and 
strengthen others. As he was once expounding a psalm 
in this sense to his friend Philagrius, while the latter 
was suffering severe pains, Philagrius was so affected 
thereby, that extending his hands towards the east 
(whither it was usual to turn in prayer), he looked up to 
heaven and exclaimed : ' I thank thee, Father, Creator 



1 Fpist. 70, al. 64, p. 826 et seq. 

2 Epist. 69, al. 63, p. 826. Compare other beautiful remarks 
on the same subject, in Epist. 63, al. 57, p. 820 et seq. 



CHAP. IV.] AND CHARACTER. 297 

of all men, that thou shovvest us kindnesses even against 
our inclination; that thou purifiest the inner through 
the outer man, and conduct est us through sufferings and 
calamities to a happy end, in the way that seemeth best 
to thee!' 1 

Thus also Gregory himself, through a varied course 
of inward and outward struggles, and finally by bodily 
suffering, was brought by the Father of his days to the 
happy termination which he had so long and earnestly 
desired. He died, probably in the place where he had 
been born, a.d. 389 or 390. We have nothing more 
exact handed down to us as to the circumstances of his 
death. 

This, then, is the life of Gregory of ISTazianzum. If 
at the conclusion of it we should attempt a sketch of 
him, both in his external and internal features, the prin- 
cipal lineaments would be the following : — 

Gregory was of middle stature ; rather pale, yet so 
that it became him. His hair was thin, and whitened 
by age; his short beard was thicker, and his eyebrows 
prominent. He had a scar over his right eye. His 
countenance was expressive of kindness, and prepossess- 
ing ; his demeanour simple and unaffected. The funda- 
mental tone of his inner nature was piety. His soul, 
full of ardent, energetic faith, was devoted to God and 
Christ; while a lofty zeal for divine things marked the 
course of his whole life. This zeal certainly displayed 
itself in a strict assertion and defence of certain defini- 
tions of faith which that age* considered of especial 



1 Epist. 66, al. 60, p. 824. 

* If by ' certain definitions of faith' are meant the doctrines 
and declarations of the Nicene Creed, (for which it is obvious Gre- 
gory was a devoted champion), surely they are to be ' consi- 
dered of especial weight' in all ages. — Translator. 



298 Gregory's character. [sect. iv. 

weight, as well as in an active contest (not free from 
the influences of party- spirit) against opposite opinions; 
it showed itself, however, no less in a real and living 
conception of active Christianity, whose establishment 
and extended influence in the minds of men was, above 
all others, an object of the greatest weight with him. 
His asceticism was carried too far, and was injurious to 
his health; it did not, however, degenerate into an 
affected sanctity. It served him as a means of raising 
and freeing the mind, without being considered by him 
as, in and by itself, a higher state of virtue. An innate 
love of solitude, strengthened as it had been by educa- 
tion, hindered him from devoting all his powers to the 
active promotion of the common good. His retired 
life, which did not admit of his acquiring a familiar 
knowledge of men and of the world, made him occa- 
sionally incautious in placing confidence, sometimes 
distrustful and austere in judging of others. He re- 
quired much from others, but most of all from himself. 
Susceptible for high and great resolves, and full of ardent 
zeal for all that is good, he was not always steadfast and 
persevering in the execution of it. In enduring and in 
contending for the truth he was generous and high- 
minded, temperate in victory, humble in prosperity, 
never flattering the great and powerful, but an ever- 
ready helper of the oppressed and the persecuted : above 
all, a loving father to the poor. "With these most excel- 
lent qualities in the character of Gregory were mixed 
counterbalancing defects; he was not quite free from 
vanity, he was very irritable and passionate, but he also 
readily forgave, and cherished no secret ill-will. He 
was a man ever occupied in holy practices, and striving 
after the highest and the best ; but he was not (as no 
human being is) perfect ! 



299 



APPENDIX I. 



CONCERNING THE YEAR AND PLACE OF GREGORY S 
BIRTH. 

IT is singTilar that the place, as well as the time of the 
birth of so celebrated a person as Gregory (who 
himself gives us tolerably detailed accounts of his life) 
are yet not exactly ascertained. Of the day of his birth 
(though it has been settled ecclesiastically) nothing can 
be historically affirmed, since very different opinions 
exist even as to the year. We have certainly a rather 
ancient account respecting the time of Gregory's birth, 
but still even that is too recent to be taken as positively 
decisive, and especially as we do not know from what 
source it is derived. I refer to a notice, of the tenth 
or eleventh century, in the Lexicon of Suidas, which 
asserts that Gregory died in the thirteenth year of the 
government of Theodosius the Great, at the age of 
ninety, or somewhat more. 1 Now Theodosius entered 
upon the empire of the East on the 1 9th of January 
a.d. 379; Gregory died, according to this account, a. d. 
392, and if he were then ninety years of age, or some- 
what older, he must have been born about the year 300 
or 301. 

This assertion, however, is very decidedly opposed to 
some points of information which are given in the writ- 



1 Suidas. torn. i. p, 497, sub verbo Torjyopiog tkatragdk 

—Lpi tcl Ivvevijtcovra eri] tcai k — 'sKLiva. QsocotJiov rpirov Kai dsKa- 
tqv irog dyovrog kcitoXvu tov (3iov. 



300 TIME AND PLACE OF GREGORY'S BIRTH. 

ings of Gregory himself. He says that he went to 
Athens in his early youth, and still beardless (noch 
unbartig) • this, therefore, could not. well be later than 
his twentieth year. He informs us that he was a stu- 
dent at Athens together with Julian. But Julian was 
at Athens in the year of our Lord odd — consequently 
Gregory must have continued in Athens till about his 
fifty-fifth or fifty-sixth year, and his residence there 
must in all have lasted at least thirty-five years ! But 
this necessary conclusion is refuted by an expression in 
Gregory's poem concerning his own life, line 238, p. -i: 

Kal yap 7ro\vg tstoittto toIq \6yoiQ xpo^og. 

*H.£r} TplClKOGTOV flOL (JX^OV TOVT ?]V ETOQ. 

Here the poet says plainly enough of himself, that 
when he formed the determination to leave Athens, he 
was nearly thirty years old. For what else can the 
phrase kari j.lol etoq -piaKoa-ov mean, than ' I am thirty 
years of age? And he might certainly well say that he 
had spent much time in rhetorical and philosophical 
studies, since he looked upon these as only preparatory; 
the object and destination of his life were, from his ear- 
liest years, fixed upon theology. 1 As therefore we know 
from Gregory's mouth, that he left Athens before his 
thirtieth year, the statement in Suidas, which places 
that event in his fifty-fifth or fifty-sixth year, destroys 
itself. 

We may wonder how so acute a critic as Pagi could 
undertake to justify the assertion of Suidas (Critica in 



1 Gregory went to Constantinople. A.D. 379. If lie were born 
in 300, fie must then have numbered nearly eighty years. How, 
at such an age, could he have entered on such an arena, with his 
already enfeebled bod}' \ ' Etoit-ce la un eniploi propre a un 
vieillard de quatre-vingt ans V is the sensible question of Tillemont. 



TIME AXD PLACE OF GREGORY'S BIRTH. 301 

Annates Baronii, 354. xi. xii. xiii. torn. i. p. 481); and 
how Le Clerc (Bibliotheque Universelle de VAnnee 1690, 
p. 2) could so blindly follow the lead of Pagi, as to say 
in his short biography of Gregory : ' Gregoire naquit, 
selon la chronologie la plus exacte, l'an 300.' Pagi, in 
order to confirm the chronological decision of Suidas, 
explains the words already quoted (Jjcrj TpiaKoarov jxol 
(tx^cov roiir fit' etoc), not of Gregory's time of life, but of 
the time of his residence (Quare erat is annus Gregorio 
N". ferme tricesimus in eo studio, non vero tricesimus a 
nativitate ejus), and translates it thus : I had also already 
resided nearly thirty years at Athens on account of my 
studies.' Most highly improbable ! since we must deviate 
from the ordinary use of language for the sake of this ex- 
planation, and then believe (what is almost incredible) that 
a man who, from his very cradle, had been destined for the 
clerical profession, and who, in his riper years, had with 
the greatest earnestness confirmed that destination, should 
have lingered thirty years, i, e, to his fiftieth year, in the 
schools of rhetoric. But even granting that improbable 
explanation of the words, yet Pagi's calculation does not 
turn out correctly. Certainly, if the assertion of Gregory- 
is not totally inaccurate (Carmen de Vita sua, p. 2, line 
112, ayvovc irapeia, k.t.X.), he came to Athens while 
still in early youth, most probably before his twentieth 
year. Now, supposing him to have resided there till his 
fifty-sixth year, this again would require a longer period 
than thirty years. , 

Whilst, then, we entirely disregard this reckoning of 
Suidas, Pagi, and Le Clerc, we establish another in the 
most natural and sure method. Setting out from certain 
or highly probable data (which exist in the writings of 
Gregory himself), we judge from them what is inde- 



302 TIME AND PLACE OF GREGORY'S BIRTH. 

finite and unknown. Earlier writers have also followed 
this method in this case, only with a certain caution in 
regard to one point. 

It is necessary to begin with some data from the life 
of Gregory's father, and particularly with the year of 
his death. He died, then, according to all the circum- 
stances, in the spring of 374. His son informs us, in 
his funeral eulogium, that he was, at the time of his 
death, about a hundred years old, of which he had 
passed forty-five years in the priestly office* conse- 
quently he must have been in holy orders ever since the 
year 329 (or 328), and four years before that (as we 
know full well from the testimony of his son) he had 
been baptized in the presence of Leontius, who was then 
on his way to Nicsea. The elder Gregory, therefore, was 
born in 275 or 276; baptized in 32 o, ordained in 329, 
and died a.d. 374. 

Now Gregory, in a passage remarkably suited to our 
purpose, represents his father as thus speaking (in his 
Carmen de Vita sua) — line 512 : 

OvTTix) TOGOVTOV SKflEfJLSTprjKCtQ (3'lOV, 

"Oaog SirjX&e Stvgiujv s^oi %p6voc. 

That is to say, the father wishes to persuade the son to 
share the duties of the episcopal office with him, and 
with that view represents to him his own great age in 
comparison with his son's youth in the words above, 
which may be rendered : ' Thou hast not yet lived so 
long a time as I have performed the priestly office 
(offered the sacrifice) ;' or, literally, ' Thou hast not yet 
measured out so long a life, as the time which has 
already passed to me in my sacrificial character.' Now, 



* This term, 'Priester stande/ includes here the Episcopal 
office. — Translator. 



TIME AND PLACE OF GREGORY'S BIRTH. 303 

if we refer the Svcriai. (as every unprejudiced person will 
do at once) to the oblations which the aged Gregory 
offered as priest or as bishop, we have then in the pas- 
sage a very clearly settled date ; Gregory, the son, was 
plainly born after his father had been ordained, that is, 
after the year 329, therefore at the earliest in 330^ and, 
consequently, at least thirty years later than the date 
assigned by Suidas. This reckoning agrees perfectly 
with what we know of Gregory's youthful days. He 
went to Athens, as we have seen, when quite young, 
somewhere between his eighteenth and twentieth year, 
and therefore (reckoning from his birth in 330) about 
a. d. 348 — 350. He resided there till about his thirtieth 
year, therefore till about the year 358 — 360. During 
his residence in Athens he made the acquaintance of 
Julian, and he (Julian) was certainly there in 355. 
Soon after his return home (probably in 361, the same 
year in which Julian mounted the Imperial throne), 
Gregory was ordained priest, therefore when he had 
barely attained the legal age, the thirtieth year; hence 
his expression, that he had entered the presbyterate very 
early, nay (according to his decided conviction, and the 
circumstances of the times), too early. 

This well-established reckoning would perhaps have 
been generally and readily received, if it had not at 
the same time been necessarily asserted, that the elder 
Gregory begat several children after he became a priest 
and a bishop ! The Eoman-catholic historians, however, 
considered this fact so insufferable, that they determined 
to do every kind of violence to the passages adduced, 
rather than admit their plain and simple meaning. 1 

1 Several of these unhappy experiments by very learned men 
are here quoted, on account of their extraordinary character ; 



304 TIME AND PLACE OF GREGORY'S BIRTH. 

And yet what is there bad or intolerable that the elder 
Gregory should have begotten his son while presbyter, 
or even bishop? Jerome certainly says (lib. i. advers. 
Jovinian.), at a somewhat later period : ( Certe confiteris, 



the Jesuit Papebroch (Acta Sand. Maj., torn. ii. p. 370, die nona 
Maii) attempts to oppose the consentient authority of all the MSS. 
with a mere conjecture ; instead of oaog dLr)\$e Svgiojv kfiol 
Xqoiwq, he proposes to read — "Ocrog SirjXS' krrjcniov Ifiol xpo^og. 
The Enjeriai are, as everybody knows, the trade-winds. Literally, 
therefore, the passage means this : — e Thou hast not lived so long 
as I have witnessed the annual recurrence of the Etesian, or trade- 
winds.' The expression, of course, is to be taken metaphorically, 
and its sense may be simply rendered thus : — 'Thou art not so old 
as I am.' But what & platitude does the learned man here attri- 
bute to the aged Gregory ! Was it at all necessary to remark 
that he, the father, was older than his son ? and could he have 
made the remark in a more singular manner, than by saying that 
he had witnessed more Etesian winds than his son had lived 
years ? Papebroch, subsequently, acknowledged the unsuitable- 
ness of his conjecture, and hazarded a second, but not more happy 
flight, when he proposes to read : — "Ocrog dirjXSe dig iojv kfiol 
Xpovog. i. e. in plain words, ' I am twice as old as you.' This 
conjecture also carries its most manifest refutation in its forced 
expression of a simple idea. The Benedictine, Clemencet, has tried 
to help himself in a different way; he allows the reading Swritop 
its due weight, but seeks to escape from its strict sense by an 
artful explanation. Instead of referring the offering of sacrifice to 
the priestly state, he refers it merely to the christian state. He 
thinks that Svrriai betokens only the distribution of the sacra- 
ment) in which Gregorius, as a baptized Christian, had partici- 
pated, or the offering of a spiritual sacrifice. Consequently, the 
aged Gregory would say nothing more to his son than ' Thou hast 
not been so long in the world as I have been baptized, or a Chris- 
tian V Accordingly, Clemencet asserts that Gregory was born 
when his father was not yet a bishop, but already a Christian, 
and therefore in the year of our Lord 325 or 326. But, to say 
nothing of the artificial character of this explanation, it does not 
at all suit the context. If the aged bishop wished to induce 
his son to assist him in the duties of his office, what effect would 
be produced by the statement, that he, the father, had already 
been a Christian as long as the son had lived ? — But it must, 
indeed, have worked strongly on the son, when his father reminded 
him l that he had now been a longer period in the priestly office, 
than the son had been in existence.' The father could not well 



TIME AND PLACE OF GREGORY'S BIRTH. 305 

non posse esse episcopuin, qui in episcopatu filios faciat : 
alioquin si diprehensus, non quasi, vir tenebitur, sed quasi 
adulter damnabitur ;' and other strict Fathers, as Epi- 
phanius, agree with him. But it has been already- 
remarked by a learned and unsophisticated Roman-catho- 
lic explorer of history, and also sufficiently proved, that 
the notions and regulations which obliged priests to 
entire abstinence in respect to marriage, 1 had at that 
time by no means acquired a decided or general validity, 
and, indeed, in many countries permitted an exception. 
Celibacy was held as the preferable practice, without on 
that account being reckoned as the unconditional law; 
he who followed this practice was admired, but still he 
who did not observe it was not condemned. What 
wonder, then, if the elder Gregory, who appears to us 
generally as possessed of an independent mind, should 
have complied rather with the wish of his heart for do- 
mestic happiness, than with the severe notions of a part 
of his contemporaries, who wished to withhold it from 
priest and bishop alike I 

Other difficulties, which have been started against this 
mode of reckoning, are still more easily got rid of. We 
must assume therewith, that the elder Gregory was 



have pressed upon the mind of his son, in a more brief and lively 
manner, his own want of help, and the son's obligation to afford 
him assistance. The Cardinal Baronius also cannot satisfy the 
unprejudiced inquirer, when he declares the whole phraseology of 
the passage to be an hyperbole. The form and structure of the 
words are of that kind, that we have no occasion at all to seek for 
anything hyperbolical in them ; the words themselves are so quiet, 
simple, and precise, that we must take them for an actual error, 
rather than an hyperbole, if we do not choose to interpret them 
according to their nearest and plainest sense. 

1 See the learned investigations of Tillemont, in the Memoires 
pourservir a VHistoire Eccles., torn. ix. p. 695. 

X 



306 TIME AND PLACE OF GREGORY'S BIRTH. 

already fifty-five years old when he begat his son. But 
his wife, also, in relation to him, is called ofiu^povoc Kai'icrr) 
woXirj kclI rjSecn (of like age, resembling him in her grey 
hair and habits of thought); and therefore it must be 
also maintained that Nonna was quite as old, with the 
improbable assumption that she had borne her first child 
at so advanced an age ! To this it may be answered as 
follows : When both of them, Gregorius and JNTonna, 
were now at an advanced age, it might readily be said of 
them, that they were of the same age or standing, even 
though there were a difference of ten years between 
them. Of an aged, venerable couple, where the husband 
was about one hundred, and the wife about ninety years 
old, we should naturally remark that they were of like 
age, since in their case the difference in point of age has 
actually ceased to show itself. But Nonna might very 
well have given birth to her first-born son in her fortieth 
year, as that is not at all contrary to experience. Nay, 
we have even positive indications thereof, since Gregory 
calls his mother expressly oxpironog, late in bearing (he 
himself was o^ltokoq, late born) — Carmen de Vita sua, 
line 442 et seq. He also not unfrequently compares 
her with Sarah, and his father with Abraham. 

Still more insignificant is the remark, that in his 
poem De Rebus suis (line 307 and 308), which he pro- 
bably wrote (according to our reckoning) in his fortieth 
year, he speaks, as he does elsewhere, of his hair already 
grown grey, and complains of his wearied limbs, and the 
deadness of his vital powers. Any one who remembers 
Gregory's ascetic mode of life, and his systematic prac- 
tice of weakening the body, cannot wonder for a moment 
at those results. 



TIME AND PLACE OF GKEGORY's BIETH. 307 

The place of Gregory's birth likewise cannot be ex- 
actly ascertained. No perfectly unambiguous expres- 
sions relating to it are to be found in his writings. The 
question, however, only turns on this, whether he was 
born at the little city of Nazianzum (written also 
Nazianzus), or at a family estate or village called 
Arianzum {alias Arianzus) in the immediate neighbour- 
hood thereof; a difference of very little importance, 
since, at all events, he received his earlier education 
at his father's episcopal house in Nazianzum. Euphran- 
tas, a later bishop of Tyana, says : ' Arianzus quidem 
praedium est, unde ortus fuit Gregorius, sub Nazi- 
anzo constitutus ; and a scholiast on Gregory's 8th 
Oration says : eppeSri kv 'Apiav£<o ttjq Ka7nraS6K<t)v 
£7rap-)^iaQ, afi rjg wpfJLutvTO Srj 9 kcli kelvtcli (whence the 
family sprung, and where they lie buried). So also 
Nicetas, in his Commentary on the 16th Oration of 
Gregory: Arianzus, ipsius S. Gregorii natalitius pagus, 
situs in regione Tiberina. This assertion, although rest- 
ing upon later writers, is probable, for this reason, that 
it is easily explained how Nazianzum could by mistake 
be fixed upon as his birth-place, but not so easily how 
they could have done so as to Arianzum. We have 
already noticed what Gregory himself says of JSTazian- 
zum ; but, besides that, the place is scarcely more than 
mentioned by name in the old writers. Mannert has 
put together in the best possible way all the notices we 
have of it. 1 We select particularly from his labours 
what he gives from the narrative of an European tra- 
veller, Paul Lucas, at the beginning of the eighteenth 



1 Mannert's Geographie der Griechen und Romer., vi. Th. 
p. 267. 

x 2 



308 THE SECT OF THE HYPSISTAEIANS. 

century. i This traveller points out as the locality of the 
ancient Nazianzum the place called by him Hagibestage, 
but by Pococke, more correctly, Hadschi Bertas. It 
has the name from a Turkish saint, who founded here a 
large establishment for the entertainment of all travel- 
lers. It is still supported by ecclesiastics, where a noble 
library of manuscripts, and the seat of learning, are still 
said to exist. The appearance of extensive ruins proves 
that a considerable city once stood on the identical 
spot. This city was Nazianzum? See the rest in 
Mannert. I only add, that Nazianzum not only ap- 
pears, in the Latin writers of the middle ages, under the 
corrupted names of Nanzando, Nazabos, and Nazanza, 
but that Hieronymus (Jerome) was already in the habit 
of calling his master, Gregorius Nazanzenus. 



APPENDIX II. 

CONCERNING THE SECT OF THE HYPSISTARIANS. 

As I have already made this sect of the Hypsistarians a 
subject of inquiry, 1 and as the appearance of another 
learned work 2 was thereby occasioned, — a work to which 
I cannot deny the praise of extensive reading and a . 



1 De llypsistariis, seculi post Christum natum quarti secta, 
commentatio, qaam — scripsit C. Ullmann. Heidelb. Mohr. 1823. 
Everything that could serve to promote a knowledge of the Hyp- 
sistarians is there adduced and quoted from the original sources. 

2 De llypsistariis, Opinionibusque, quce super eis propositi 
sunt, commentationern scnpsit Lie. Gulielm. Boehmerus. Prse- 
fatus est Neander. Berol. 1824. Herr Boehmer has brought 
together, and carefully weighed all known opinions, some older 
and others more recent, concerning this sect. A critical notice of 
both these works (i. e., that of Boehmer and my own) was com- 
municated by me in the Heidelberg Jahrbuch for 1824, No. 47. 



THE SECT OF THE HYPSISTARIANS. 309 

cautious judgment (though the author disputes my 
opinions), I must be concise on this subject now; and 
the more so, because in point of fact it would be difficult 
for me to say anything new about it. I also believe 
that I do not yet possess that perfect freedom from pre- 
judice, and that freedom of judgment, which, in regard 
to once-settled opinions, can only be acquired after some 
years, when the subject again becomes fresh and new. 
I therefore content myself here with a few references 
and repetitions. 

The sources from which we can derive information 
concerning the religious community of the Hypsista- 
rians are (it is well known) very meagre, and consist 
properly of only two passages; one in the 18th Oration 
of Gregory Nazianzen (§ 5, p. 333), and the other in 
the work of his friend Gregory of Nyssa (Adv. Eunom., 
lib. ii. t. ii. p. 440) ; but both these passages are the 
more to be depended on, that both the writers were born 
and lived in the country where the sect of the Hypsis- 
tarians flourished. They were also contemporaneous 
with the existence of the sect ; nay, the former of them 
was born of a father who, in the earlier part of his life, 
had been a Hypsistarian. Now from these sources the 
following facts appear: The Hypsistarimis (who are 
also called Hypsistians by Gregory of Nyssa) worshipped 
an Almighty God (6 iravTOKparijjp jxovoq avrolg (jefida/jioe), 
whom they distinguished by the title of "Y^lotoq, the 
Most High; and this reverence for the Most High was 
even so peculiarly distinctive of these persons, that they 
gained the name of "YxpLvrapLoi (Hypsistarians) therefrom. 
In their worship of this god they rejected the use of 
images (eicioXa) and sacrifices ; but they had a kind of 
fire-and-lamp service; i. e., they worshipped the invi- 
sible Almighty under the visible signs of fire and light 



310 



THE SECT OF THE HYPSISTARIANS. 



(tijjluhjl to -nvp Kol tcl \vyva). The seventh day (Gregory 
Nazianzen says expressly the Sabbath, to (jdfifiaTOp) 
was kept holy by them ; they also observed certain laws 
of meats, but rejected circumcision. Gregory Xazian- 
zen describes them as a half-Jewish, half-heathen sect, 
and Gregory of Nyssa puts them quite in the same class 
with the Jews, inasmuch as both Jews and Hypsistarians 
certainly acknowledged the existence of one God, but, 
in opposition to the Christians, denied that that God 
was the Father of a Son. This small amount of infor- 
mation is all these sources declare with distinctness. 
There may have been other features peculiar to the 
Hypsistarians, but we can arrive at no certainty thereon, 
through the total failure of information. 

In establishing my view concerning the origin of the 
Hypsistarians, I set out from the expression of Gregory 
Nazianzen : e The faith of the Hypsistarians is a mixture 
of heathenish and Jewish religious elements,'' — with the 
remark, that this somewhat rhetorically-formed descrip- 
tion of Gregory's may certainly have resulted from the 
subjective conception he had formed of them, but might 
also possibly rest upon a good historical basis. Gregory 
was certainly sufficiently acquainted with the sect to 
which his father had belonged, not to say anything of 
them which was historically quite untenable. Xow the 
Jewish element which was found in the Hypsistarians, 
was first and chiefly monotheism, or the belief in one 
God ; next, the religious observance of the seventh day, 
or Sabbath; the rejection of idol 1 worship, and perhaps 
also the law of meats; although on this last point very 
little can be determined with any certainty, since it is 



1 Under this term, we may properly understand idol- images, or, 
generally } any created things. 



THE SECT OF THE HYPSISTAKIANS. 311 

not sufficiently clear whether the words of Gregory 
Naz. refer to regularly returning fasts, or to a constant 
and entire abstinence from certain kinds of meat. This 
last, however, is far more probable, (since a Father of 
the Church, himself inclined to asceticism, would not 
have applied the term jjuKpoXoyia to mere fasting, even 
when strictly observed,) and we thus have something 
which might very easily have passed from the Jews to 
the Hypsistarians. 

The peculiarly heathen character of the sect is indicated 
by Gregory with the words : rijiwai to rrvp ral ra \vyva 
(they pay honour to fire and lamps), while at the same 
time, by the indefinite expression kWrfviKrj ifkavq, he 
leaves us at liberty to fix upon any heathen worship we 
think most suitable. But, among them all, which will 
more naturally occur to the reader of the above words 
(rifiuHTL, k.t.X.) than the Persian, the characteristic of 
which at that time was the religious use of fire and 
lights, with a purely spiritual meaning, as well as a sensible 
visible form 1 The expression, however, seems to imply, 
not an actual worshipping of fire, but an adoration of 
the unseen Supreme God under the symbol of fire; just 
as the purer Magism did not consider fire in itself divine, 
but only to be reverenced as a holy emblem of the 
Deity. The Hypsistarians agreed in this with the Per- 
sians (as well as with the Jews), that idols were objects 
of abhorrence to them. 

This hypothesis as to the origin of the Hypsistarian 
creed from a mixture of Jewish and Persian elements is 
especially confirmed by the fact, that exactly at that 
time there were found in Cappadocia (the country 
where alone we discover any certain traces of the sect) 
many Persian emigrants, who were called by Basil the 
Great, Magusceans (Basil. Epist. 258); by Strabo, Magi 



312 THE SECT OF THE HYPSISTARIAXS. 

and Pyrathi (Geograph. lib. xv. p. 732, edit. Casaub.) ; 
and, according to the accounts of both writers, they had 
preserved, even in a foreign land, the religious customs 
of their fathers. Jews, too, we know, were scattered 
through all the regions of the Central and the Lesser 
Asia. How easily Judaism and Parseeism could be 
brought into close connexion, had been already shown 
by the effects of exile : the Jews adopted a Persian ele- 
ment into their religious system, and Cyrus proved by 
his deeds his reverence for the God of the Jews, the 
Lord of heaven and earth (2 Chronic, xxxvi. 23 — Ezra, 
i. 2, 3, 4) ; but still the Persians continued fire-worship- 
pers, after Zoroaster, and the Jews worshippers of Jeho- 
vah, after Moses. It is only in the Hypsistarians of the 
fourth century that a complete blending of Judaism and 
Parseeism took place, in a properly third form of reli- 
gion, more simple than the two from which it sprung — 
a blending which, from the immediate contact of the 
Jews and Persians, and from the removal of the former 
as well as the latter from their native country into the 
midst of strangers (christian and heathen), was very pos- 
sible, and is also made very probable by many analogous 
examples in the history of religion, as well as by the 
inclination of the time to eclecticism and combination in 
religious matters. Whether now did this commixture 
originate with the Persians, who acknowledged the supe- 
riority of the Jewish monotheism, yet would not relin- 
quish altogether their own religious customs? or with 
the Jews, who wished to simplify the* ceremonial of 



* Qu. Might not Dr. Ullmann have found, nearer home. Jews 
who, to simplify their religions worship, have adopted a rational- 
izing, eclectic Christianity, amounting to little more than Unita- 
rianism ?— Translator. 



THE SECT OF THE HYPSISTARIANS. 313 

their worship, and found a kind of Persian fire-service 
agreeable for that purpose? or with heathens, who, 
being placed between Persians and Jews, formed for 
themselves so simple a kind of religion out of the faith 
and worship of both nations 1 It is not easy to come to 
any decisive conclusion thereon, owing to the scantiness 
of our information, and the fluctuation of possible sup- 
positions. 

The Hypsistarians were, as it seems, related to the hea- 
thenish Euphemites, or Messalian Syrians and Phoeni- 
cians, who, according to the account of Epiphanius 
(H aires, lxviii. p. 1067. Petav.), professing neither 
Judaism nor Christianity, but originating from hea- 
thenism, certainly admitted the existence of several gods, 
but, with all that, worshipped only one, under the name 
of 7ravruKpd~it)p (the Almighty), and also, according to 
the words of our author, c with great burning of lamps 
and many lights' (fderoi 7roX\rJQ \v^ya\liaQ Kai (pwriov). 
It is possible that these Euphemites were, in some way 
or other, connected with Parseeism. Still more remark- 
able, though less observed, is that which is related by 
Cyrill of Alexandria (Be Adorat. in Spirit u et Verity lib. 
iii. t. i. p. 92), in the first half of the fifth century, of a 
sect which had spread in Palestine and Phoenicia, the 
members of which called themselves Oeo(T£J3eiQ (Deicolae, 
worshippers of God). They also reverenced one God, 
who was expressly called v^lotoq ; and Cyrill remarks of 
them, as Gregory does of the Hypsistarians, that they 
were neither pure Jews nor pure heathens, since, in addi- 
tion to the Most High God, they at the same time 
acknowledged as divine beings exalted objects of crea- 
tion (to. Llaipzra tCjv K-HJuaTuv), such as the earth, the 
heavens, the sun, the moon, and the most distinguished 



314 THE SECT OF THE HYPSISTARIANS. 

stars. Here we certainly find monotheism and sabaeism 
connected together in a very peculiar and remarkable 
manner; but whether such a connexion favours the 
assumption of a relationship, or even an identity, be- 
tween the QsodepetQ and the Hypsistarians, might still 
be a very doubtful point, since, in my opinion, it cannot 
be proved that the Hypsistarians actually worshipped 
any objects of the visible creation. What Herr Bohmer 
has brought forward against the views of the author, the 
reader, if he wishes, may read in his Commentatio, § 7, 
p. 35 ; and also what the author thought he could ad- 
duce in defence of his opinion, in the Heidelberger 
Jahrbicchern for 1824, No. 47, p. 744. 

A learned reviewer in the Jena Literat. Zeitung 
(December, 1824, No. 238, p. 455), agrees with the 
author ' in assuming a close relationship between the 
Hypsistarians, Euchetse, Magusians, and Deicolanians 
(i. e. 9 QeoaefieiQ) ; but thinks that these different sects 
were only ramifications of an older sect, whose origin he 
would gladly place in the period of general religious 
fermentation in the first centuries, when so many per- 
sons separated themselves from the positive forms of 
religion, and, retaining more or less of them, formed 
separate and peculiar sections (alpiaeig). The resem- 
blance of the doctrines and regulations of the Messalians 
and Hypsistarians to those of the Essenes and Thera- 
peutce (as Philo, Be Vita Contempt sketches them) is too 
remarkable for us to ascribe it to accident. The Essenes 
and Therapeutse worshipped only the Most High God 
(to ov — see Philo, Quis Rer. Div. Hceres., t. ii. p. 457, and 
Be Vit. Cont. p. 472. ed. Mang.); they rejected images 
and sacrifices (or, as it is expressed by Gregory of the 
Hypsistarians, slBtoka teal Svciag airoweii7r6jjLEvoL) ; they 



THE SECT OF THE HYPSISTARIANS. 315 

kept holy only the seventh day of the week (or, as is 
said of the Hypsistarians, to (Taftfiarov alhv^evot) ; they 
were precise as to the eating of meats (so Gregory, 
ttjv wepl ra fipwfictTa fiLKpoXoylav, /c.r.A.) ; they attached 
great value to prayer (the same is said of the Messalians 
by Epiphanius, Augustine, and Theodoret); they had 
distinct temples for prayer, and religious houses (Epi- 
phanius mentions this of the Euchetae as something 
remarkable, H aires. 80); they asserted that by inspiration 
they saw God (so the Euchetae were called enthusiasts — 
see Danaeus ad Augustin. de Halves, pp. 168, 169); 
they occupied themselves much in hymns and songs of 
praise (for a similar reason also the Messalians probably 
are called Psallians in Augustine) ; they held nocturnal 
meetings (as Epiphanius states also of the Euchetae) ; 
and that they rejected circumcision is the more probable, 
as they interpreted all the laws of Moses allegorically. 
(Philo. lib. i.) The virtues of the elder Gregory, when 
he was still a Hypsistarian, imply also good moral prin- 
ciples in the sect, which, indeed, is well known to have 
been the case (see Gregor. JSTaz. Orat.xix. p. 289, et seq.). 
The reviewer certainly is not far from wishing to con- 
sider the Hypsistarians as Therapeutae; he thinks, in- 
deed, that he may fairly venture to assert that they 
may have been descendants of that ancient sect, whose 
seat was in Egypt, Syria, and even in Asia Minor.' 

The author, without wishing exactly to discard this 
ingenious conjecture, contents himself with remarking*, 
that still the connexion of the Hypsistarians with older 
Essene or Therapeutic religious communities does not 
appear to be based on sufficient historical evidence, for 
him to agree unconditionally with the reviewer. 

We may notice, in conclusion, an historical parallel, 



316 THE SECT OF THE HYPSISTARIAXS. 

not with the view of more accurately explaining the 
origin and character of the Hypsistarian sect, but to 
point out the real resemblance between two religious 
parties, far separated from each other by time and space. 
The Hypsistarians, then, may be compared with a sect 
of the middle ages, the Pasagians or Pasaginians 
(Pasagii or Pasagini), who appeared in Lombardy in 
the twelfth century, and took their name probably from 
the circumstance, that they (like many other sectarians 
of that century) were obliged, as birds of passage, to 
lead a rambling, wandering life, through fear of the 
persecutions of the dominant Church. The Pasagians 
were a Judaizing sect ; they required the observance of 
the whole law of Moses, excepting the sacrifices ; they 
kept the Sabbath, observed the Jewish law of meats, 
and introduced again the rite of circumcision, from 
whence they also bore the name of Circumcisi. Besides 
all this, they denied the divine nature of Christ, declaring 
Him certainly to be the highest of created beings, but 
still only a created being ; and they rejected generally 
the whole doctrine of the Trinity. 1 



1 We have two ancient accounts of the Pasagians, which, on 
the whole, perfectly agree : the one, by a quondam teacher of the 
Cathari* Bonacorsi, in his Vita Hcereticorum, given in D"Achery's 
Spicileg., torn. i. p. 211 et seq., runs thus : — In primis dicunt, 
quod mosaica lex ad litteram observanda, et quod Sabbatum et 
circumcisio, et alias legales observantiee adhuc habere statum 
debeant. Dicunt enirn, quod Christus, Dei films, non sit 
aequalis Patri, et quod Pater et Filius et Spiritus Sanctus, istas tres 
personse non sint unus Deus et una substantia. Prseterea ad 
augrnentum sui erroris, omnes ecclesiae doetores, et universaliter 
totam ecclesiam Romanum judicant et condemnant. This last 
was, without doubt, their chief crime, for the sake of which they 
were doomed by the Church of Rome to be persecuted as wander- 



* Another name (quasi Puritans) of the Passagers and Albigenses of the 
twelfth century. — ( Translator.) 



THE SECT OF THE HYPSISTARIANS. 317 

The Pasagians, therefore, agreed with the Hypsista- 
rians in a pure monotheism, or unitarianism, and also in 
Judaizing, although the Hypsistarians did not carry 
this last so far as to adopt circumcision, and observe 
the whole law of Moses. A difference, certainly not 
quite insignificant, and one which is increased by the 
fact, that the Hypsistarians appear to have been subject 
to no positive religion, the Pasagian, on the contrary, 
professed to be Christians, and appealed to the Old and 
New Testaments for the confirmation of their doctrines. l 
I am, therefore, by no means inclined to assert an actual 
historical connexion between two sects which were 
separated by an interval of eight centuries ; I would 
wish only to point out emphatically, how corresponding 
religious phenomena develop themselves in periods and 
countries so far apart, under like, though in many 
respects differing, circumstances. 



ing passaggieri from country to country. The other notice, by 
Gerhard of Bergamo (about a.d. 1230) occurs in a short extract 
given by Muratori — Antiqq. Ital. Med. jEvi., torn. v. p. 152, edit. 
Mediol. The Pasagians are there thus spoken of: — Dicunt Christum 
esse primam et puram creaturam : et Vetus Testamentum esse 
observandum in solemnibus et circumcisione, et in ciborum 
perceptione, et in aliis fere omnibus, exceptis in sacrificiis. 
Compare also, on this sect, Schrockh's Church History, xxix. 
p. 655 ; and Mosheim's Ch. Hist. (ii. p. 628 of the German work), 
where also, in addition to Yiiesslin'sKiixhen-und Ketzer — Historie, 
i. p. 46, there is introduced a treatise from the Bibliotheca Bremens. 
(nova class, v. fasc. 2) concerning the Pasagians, which I regret 
not to have been able to consult. 

1 Bonacorsi, at the conclusion of his account, says : Sed quia 
hunc suum errorem Novi Testamenti ac prophetarum testimonio 
nituntur, proprio illorum gladio, Christi suffragante gratia, sicut 
David Goliam, eundem sufFocemus ! 

THE END. 



TRANSLATED BY G. V. COX, M.A. 



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